Falling In
by katielz
Summary: A different way for Bella and Edward to fall in love. What if Bella never agreed to Edward when he asked to drive her to Seattle? How else would they have fallen in love?
1. No

**Okay, so I do not own Twilight, it belongs to Stephanie Meyer.**

**This idea starts from when Bella says no to Edward when he offers to drive her to Seattle.**

**Everything that happens in the book before this situation, happens**

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"Will you come with me to Seattle?" Edward asked, his eyes boring into mine.

I sighed, almost about to give up in defeat when I realized something.

Why did Edward want to come to Seattle with me? He talks to me one day, and completely ignores me the next day! I didn't understand the need that compelled him to ask me such a question.

I shook my head

"No"

And I walked away to class.


	2. Wind

I do not own Twilight, it is Stephanie Meyer's 

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All throughout the day I was preoccupied with trying to figure out why Edward wanted to take me to Seattle.

When finally, the lunch bell rang and I walked out with Jessica to the cafeteria. She was talking on and on about some random thing I didn't know. I was not paying attention, and so I just pretended to nod my head and "ohh" and "ahh" every now and then.

I was inching forward in the lunch line, waiting for my food, when Jessica giggled.

"What?" I asked

"Edward Cullen is starring at you again. I wonder why he is sitting alone today…" Jessica wondered and looked at me.

I stole a quick glace and Edward and as soon and I looked, he motioned for me to come over to him. "Does he mean YOU?!" Jessica asked, startled.

"I don't know and I don't care." I responded. I was in no mood to go talk to him after I turned him down from the car ride. I just wanted this school day to be over with.

"Hey Jess, I think I'm just going to go outside for some fresh air, I'm not really that hungry." I lied to Jessica. She seemed completely oblivious to my lie and just said, "Alright, see you later Bella!"

I turned out of the line and started walking back to my locker to grab my schoolbag. I wanted desperately to go home. I had no clue why I was feeling this way. I don't usually skip class, and definitely not because of some kid that is freakishly gorgeous and keeps acting weird around me.

I opened my locker and started shoving all of my books into it. And then it hit me. I do NOT need to run away from him, I can just ignore him, like he ignored me when I first met him. He gave me the silent treatment and so I shall give it right back to him. I threw my bag back inside my locker and just decided to go for a small walk around the school.

I slammed my locker shut and I shouted, "Gahh!"

Edward Cullen was leaning casually against the other side of the locker door. I groaned, turned around and started walking away. Forgetting my plan about not running away.

"You know, that's three times now." Edward stated, walking up beside me as I passed through the front door of the school.

I abruptly stopped walking.

"Three times what?" I asked

"Three times that you have rejected me. First, driving to Seattle" He indicated by putting one finger up. "Then inside the cafeteria," He put a second finger up. "And just now when you turned away from me." Edward told me, finally putting a third finger up.

My eyes narrowed.

"I would hardly call it three times, only the first time was a real 'rejection'." I quoted, 'rejection' with my fingers.

"Did you not think that maybe I'm doing this for a reason?" I asked. Hoping that he would get what I was saying.

His eyes narrowed.

"That's not funny, I did not want to ignore you when I first met you…I had to…wait, I get what you're trying to do. The silent treatment right?" Edward said coldly.

"Ding, ding! We have a winner!" I yelled sarcastically.

"Now, can you please leave me alone?" I looked up at Edward's eyes and regretted it.

His eyes were a mixture of hurt, confusion and anger.

I gasped quietly, hoping that he wouldn't hear me.

"I told you already, I'm tired of staying away from you." He looked at me. I stared right back at him, forgetting how to breathe. He was doing that stupid thing with his eyes again. I blushed and turned away quickly, and started walking again. Hopefully he would not follow me again.

I was wrong.

"Why don't you like me?" Edward asked, clearly wondering why.

"You're the one who doesn't like me. I was hurt that you completely ignored me and you didn't give me an explanation!" I threw my arms up in exasperation.

"You've got a temper don't you?" Edward asked, a smirk on his lips.

"I don't like double standards. First one day, being treated like I gave you a disease or something." He winced when I said this. "And then now, you start talking to me again as if nothing has ever happened."

He was silent for a minute or two.

I continued on with my little rant, not having a clue where I was walking. "Saving me from being squished from Tyler's van and regretting it-"

"I did not regret it." Edward stated each word carefully. His eyes hard.

"Obviously you did because-" And again, he cut me off.

"Bella, you are so…" He wasn't able to finish his sentence because this time I cut him off.

"Absurd? Yes I know, you told me this earlier this morning." I tried to glare at him.

I realized that we had both stopped walking and were starring intently at each other. We were in at the side of the school by a group of trees. There was no one else around us, for a storm was picking up.

I drew my hood up, crossed my arms, swallowing for my throat had gone dry, and sighed heavily.

Then, a gust of wind came over us. Edward closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. When he opened his eyes, they were pitch black. He took a step towards me. His eyes then widened in surprise, turning back to their topaz colour.

That was the last thing I remembered.

For something heavy hit me on the back of my head and I blacked out.


	3. Freedom

I do not own Twilight; all of it is Stephanie Meyer's 

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_How's Bella? Is she all right?_

I heard an all too familiar voice. I groaned out loud and finally opened my eyes. It took a few tries because my eyes weren't working with me.

He chuckled and walked over to my side.

I blinked a few times, trying to find out where I was. The room looked all to familiar…

Oh God…I thought.

I'm in the exact same room when Edward saved me from Tyler's van. How did I end up here?

"How are you feeling?" Edward asked.

"I don't even know what happened…care to explain? What time is it anyway?" I retorted back.

"Well it's about 4:00, and what happened was, we were talking, and the storm ripped off a tree branch really close to your head and it hit your head. Therefore, you were knocked out."

He answered me. "Ohhh…" I breathed.

Just then, Edward's father walked into the room. He chuckled, "We're back in here again huh?" A grin lighting up his face. "Yeah, I tend to come to the hospital a lot. I'll be your next, most urgent patient." I said sarcastically. "Am I free to go? I feel fine." I tried to sit up, but Edward's hands held me down. "What-"

"You hit your head pretty hard, again. I'm surprised it didn't start bleeding." Edward quickly looked towards Dr. Cullen, and Dr. Cullen looked at Edward.

"Thankfully it didn't…" Dr. Cullen answered; he seemed preoccupied with a thought.

"When can I leave?" I asked Dr. Cullen

He chuckled and said, "I don't know…you really did hit your head hard…"

"Please?" I asked, "I'll rest my head and take Tylenol." I promised

He sighed and said, "All alright, but on one condition. Edward drives you home; you can't drive your car for a week. Edward will pick up and drive you home"

"What?!" I nearly shrieked.

"Unless you want to stay longer…" Dr. Cullen trailed off suggestively.

I growled and rolled my eyes. "Fine." I retorted, "Thank you so much," I pretended to bow, and got off the bed. Pushing away Edward's cold, yet soft hands.

I started walking down the hallway of the hospital with Edward hot on my heels. I glanced back at him of couple of times to check if he was there. He was quiet. I was desperately trying to think of a plan to not have Edward drive me home.

After the third time I looked around, we were just exiting the front doors.

"Nervous I'll leave?" Edward asked, a smile forming on his perfect lips.

I scowled at him and replied, "No, if anything I want you to leave."

"Then why do you keep turning to look back at me?" Edward asked again, trying to look innocent. It wasn't working, he was amused.

"You're just so quiet, I keep thinking you're not there, that's all. I'm not wanting you or anything." I quickly turned around and wiggled my hands in his face, hoping that he would jump back.

I was right; he jumped back a couple of steps.

I smirked and turned around again, starting to walk towards the road.

Suddenly Edward grabbed my elbow,

"And where do you think you're going?! Did you not hear what my father said? That I am supposed to drive you home!" Edward blurted out, outraged.

"Hey! You didn't actually think that was going to happen did you?" I struggled to get free, but he held on tight.

As soon as I was in front of the passenger door of his shiny Volvo he let me go, and said, "Get in."

I crossed my arms, and glowered at him across the car. He was standing in front of his door, looking back at me.

My eyes shifted towards the road, and I was contemplating whether or not I should run. He seemed to guess my thoughts for he said,

"I'll just drag you back, and you won't like it."

I said, "I think I'll take my chances,"

And with that I bolted.


	4. Thinking

**Okay, here's a nice, long chapter, please read and review!**

**This chapter is similar to one in Twilight. Where Edward takes Bella out to dinner.**

**I do not own Twilight; all of it belongs to Stephanie Meyer.**

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I did not get far.

I managed to take about three steps before Edward pinned my arms to my side and pushed me back against the car.

I gasped quietly, my breath becoming ragged. I just realized how close our faces were. We were looking into each other's eyes; I blushed and turned my head away from him.

He immediately dropped my hands.

I tried to run again, but he put one arm on the side of my body, preventing me from moving.

"Get, in, the, car," Edward stated firmly. "I will drape you across my shoulders if you try to run again."

"Fine!" I threw my arms up in defeat.

I walked over to the car door, opened it and slammed it shut with a 'humph.' He took his time walking back to the car, which was a surprise.

He put some music on, and I realized I knew what the music was.

"Clair de Lune?" I asked

"You know Debussy?" Edward asked.

"Not well, my mom used to play it a lot back in Phoenix." I replied.

He glanced over at me, not saying anything.

Just at the perfect moment, my stomach growled. I blushed furiously. I hadn't realized how hungry I was. When was the last time I ate? Breakfast, this morning at 7. Well no wonder I was hungry…

"Let's go get you something to eat." Edward stated, not even asking for my permission.

"It's okay, I'll get eat when I get home, Charlie will probably want something to eat as well."

He looked over to me and said, "you're eating, whether you like it or not." His facial expression portrayed seriousness.

I sighed, "Fine, fine, fine." I wanted to know why I was giving up so easily! I should be trying to fight him back; I don't want to have anything to do with him. I just want to keep to myself, and be independent. He wasn't letting me do that.

We were silent for the rest of the car ride. We were driving through the town that was near the hospital.

"Where do you want to eat?" Edward asked, turning to look at me.

"A fast food place is fine,"

He raised one perfect eyebrow, looking sceptically at me. "Are you sure, why don't we go to an actual restaurant?"

"I'm a mess," I replied, looking down at myself. I was wearing the same outfit as this morning, but I was a complete mess. I must have fallen down when I got hit.

"You look fine Bella, I don't really care what your outfit is, your still…" He stopped mid-sentence.

My head snapped up to him, and he was looking straight ahead out the windshield, as if nothing had happened and he didn't say anything to me.

The butterflies in my stomach were not helping my situation of wanting to stay away from him.

I blushed and looked away from him. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him swallow and glance over at me.

The car stopped and I saw that we were outside a little restaurant called 'Forks Coffee Shop.' I looked over to Edward, and he said, "You said you didn't want a restaurant, but it's better than a fast food place."

He opened his car door, and I opened mine as well. As I stepped out of the car, I didn't realize that Edward had came over to my side and offered his hand to help me out. I took it, grateful that I wouldn't fall getting out of the car.

As soon as our hands touched I gasped. His hand was ice cold, and it felt like he shocked me when he touched me. It felt like an electric surge went through our fingers and it was pleasantly surprising. I quickly drew my hand away, as did he.

"I'm sorry," he murmured.

"That's okay," I replied.

I decided to get out of the car by myself this time. I did not want a repeat of what just happened. It was becoming really awkward between us now. I didn't know how much of it I could stand and I didn't know what to do. Do I try to be friends, or should I just stick with my plan of trying to ignore him? I was clueless and I hated it. I wanted an answer right there in front of my eyes. I didn't like solving problems on my own.

We walked side by side to the front door of the café. He held open the door for me.

Edward was such a gentleman and it bothered me. Why did everything he does have to be so perfect? His perfect face, his voice, his eyes, being a gentleman, and I just realized his wardrobe was perfect as well.

Edward was wearing navy blue jeans with red and white sneakers. He was wearing a plain black belt. His shirt was a striped polo t-shirt; It was striped red and white. Edward was definitely well dressed. This bothered me even more. I wondered what other people thought when they saw us walking together. Me, a totally mess and not even the slightest appropriate looking, and perfect Edward, I knew every girl in the restaurant would be looking at him.

I tried subtly to smooth down the front of my shirt and wipe away any dirt. When I walked through the door, I tried to ruffle my hair and make it look natural. Then I just gave up. I would just have to try and ignore the stares from the girls. It's not like it mattered what they were thinking, right?

Edward said politely to the server, "Table for two please."

"Alright sir, follow me." The server was good-looking, but not nearly as attractive as Edward is. The server Andy, it said on his nametag, looked over to me and smiled.

I smiled back, and I heard Edward make a noise.

A growl?

Why would he be growling at the server? We weren't even together! Far from it, I don't think we were even friends.

Andy looked over to Edward, his eyes widening in surprise. I guess he must have heard Edward growl. I refrained from laughing out loud.

Andy led us into the far corner of the café. I looked around the café and found it to be very nice.

The café itself was simple, but elegant looking. There were booths, and tables with comfy chairs. There was a couch in the middle of the room with a coffee table. Against the left side of the wall was a stage; I guess some people like to perform here. On the right side there was a wall with a row of computers. The café felt homey, and I liked it. Edward picked a good place to eat.

I was already guessing that Edward was not going to get something to eat. I rarely ever saw him eat before. He never ate inside the cafeteria, always bought food, and then ended up throwing it away when the bell rang.

I slid into one side of the booth and Edward into the other.

"Your waiter will be with you momentarily." Andy smiled at me again and walked away.

I noticed that Edward was not pleased. He was glaring at Andy as if he had said something wrong to me.

"You know, he did not say anything rude to me." I pointed out to Edward.

"What?" He questioned, puzzled.

"You keep glaring at him as if he did something wrong to me, and I heard you growl at him!"

"Your perceptive." Edward responded, looking at me. I couldn't tell the emotion in his eyes, but I kept thinking it was anger.

I blurted out, without thinking, "are you angry at me now?"

"No, I'm just surprised that you are able to catch my every move," Edward said, with a hint of amusement in his face. He must think I'm insane and in love with him or something. I rolled my eyes and turned to the new waiter who showed up. His name was 'Rick.'

"Hi I'll be your waiter for tonight, what can I get you guys to eat?" I noticed that he was only looking at me when he spoke.

I looked to Edward, and he just nodded his head.

"I'll have a sprite please."

"Okay," and he reluctantly turned to Edward, "and you?"

"Nothing for me."

Obviously.

After the waiter left to get our drinks, I heard Edward growl again. My head whipped to him, my eyes wide. "What was that for?!" I nearly shouted

"I didn't like what he was thinking," Edward said, still looking in the direction the waiter left. After the words left his mouth, his eyes went wide when he realized what he just said.

"What?" I was completely baffled.

"Um…nothing," Edward tried changing the topic.

I wasn't letting him off that easy. "No way, your telling me why you just said that."

"You wouldn't believe me." Edward stated.

"Try me."


	5. Snowball

**Okay, here's a nice, long chapter again. **

**Please read and review!**

**I do not own Twilight; it belongs to Stephanie Meyer**

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"I really shouldn't be telling you this, you'll think I'm insane and your not even supposed to know about this." Edward tried to warn me.

"Fine, if you really don't want to tell me, then don't tell me. I'll still find out." I shrugged my shoulders.

He put his elbows on the table, his hands interlocking and he looked at me quizzically.

"And how, may I ask, would you find out?"

I folded my hands in my lap and started chewing on my bottom lip. I shrugged my shoulders again, "I don't know, but I'll find a way to figure it out."

"I really wish you wouldn't try, you don't want to know." Edward stated.

"Why wouldn't I want to know? You're so confusing, and secretive, it's annoying. You won't tell me why you saved my life, and you acted like you regretted it. One day you act as if I don't exist, and then all of a sudden, you want to be my friend, or so I think, I don't know what to think anymore!" I almost yelled, frustrated.

Right on cue, Rick returned back with my sprite. "What can I get you guys to eat tonight?" Rick asked.

I realized I hadn't even looked at the menu yet. I picked it up and quickly scanned the menu. My eyes came upon something called, 'Chicken Quesadilla.' I had no idea what it was, but it sounded good. Anything that was edible sounded good at the moment.

I answered Rick, "I'll have the uh, 'Chicken Quesadilla.'"

"Okay, and for you sir," Rick looked at Edward.

I decided to answer for him, my pent up anger flowing freely now. "Nothing for him."

Edward looked astonished.

"Uhh…okay," and with that, Rick turned on his heel and walked away muttering something about 'crazy'.

Edward folded his arms across his chest, his muscles standing out firmly.

I mimicked his position, hoping that it didn't look ridiculous.

"My theory," I answered his unsaid question. I could almost see him thinking it.

His eyebrows raised, "oh really?"

"Yes," I paused, thinking of how to say it, "I have noticed that you, or your family do not eat food, you have always turned it down when it comes to eating food."

Edward laughed, unable to keep it in. I did not see what was so funny about the situation, so I just raised my eyebrow.

"Wow, you are definitely perceptive." Edward said, shaking his head with laughter.

I don't know how many minutes went by, but it must have been at least ten. The waiter came back with my food,

"Here's your 'Chicken 'Quesadilla,' enjoy." Rick smiled at me again.

I looked down at my food and picked up the first quarter of it. "Do you know if we have any biology homework?" I asked Edward.

He frowned at me, "I haven't been back to the school since you were hit, I stayed at the hospital with you,"

I almost chocked on my food, "Why?"

"Why, not? I was there when you got hit, I wanted to make sure you were okay." Edward replied.

"Oh," I blushed deeply, "you didn't have to,"

Edward was starting to bug me more and more. He really seemed like he was interested in talking to me again. I wished he wasn't.

He shrugged his shoulders,

"It's no big deal," he smiled, "I got out of school." He laughed at some joke, starring off elsewhere.

I paused with my food halfway to my mouth.

Edward glanced back at me, "is that any good?" He asked.

I brought it back to my mouth before answering, "yeah."

I finished the rest of my food in quiet and I was really full. I had satisfied my hunger and I was ready to go home and sleep.

"Are you ready to leave?" Edward asked, "or do you want anything else?"

I shook my head, taking a drink of sprite, finishing it completely before answering, "no way, I'm full. Thank you."

As Rick was walking near by our table Edward motioned for him to come over to us, "Could we get the check please?"

"Certainly," Rick replied, smiling again at me.

I swear if he smiles one more time, I was going to get Edward to beat him up.

I glared after the waiter scowling under my breath. Edward must have heard me, for he laughed. Edward's musical laughter loud enough for everyone to hear inside the café.

"And what, may I ask is funny this time?!" I asked Edward, my eyes wide.

"I heard you scowl, it bugs you as well doesn't it?" Edward said, amusement in his voice.

"Ohh, so it bugs you too then? Why does it bug you Edward?" I asked, putting my elbow up on the table and resting my chin in my hand.

All trace of amusement gone from his face, he took his time answering me. "It just does, he looks at you as if you're something to play with."

"Looks? I thought you could read minds?" I pushed my questions to the limit, trying as hard as I could go. Edward did not like where this conversation was going.

And the waiter had to spoil my chance. Rick came back, handing Edward and check and me a piece of paper. "Err…thanks," I said.

"Have a good day," Rick said to me.

As I was about to flip open the folded paper, Edward snatched it from me and read it.

"Hey!" I protested.

He scoffed before ripping it up to shreds.

"What was that for?" I yelled. "Did you ever think that maybe I would have liked to read it?" I asked Edward.

"You wouldn't; he gave you his number." Edward retorted.

I flushed quickly before summoning up all the courage I had to say this, "So! Maybe I would have wanted his number!"

Edward's head snapped up to look at me.

I instantly regretted saying it.

"Well, not really…but…" I trailed off. "It's still rude to do that!" I insisted. Folding my arms across my chest again for what seemed like the twentieth time tonight.

Edward smirked at me and stood up. I followed pursuit and walked in front of him out the door. When I stepped outside it was freezing cold. The temperature felt like it dropped 10 degrees.

I shivered and walked over to the car and opened the door. Once Edward was inside the car he frowned at me, and reached into the back seat pulling out a leather jacket.

"Here, put this on," Edward handed me the jacket.

I looked down at the jacket and back up at him and shook my head, "It's okay I'm fine."

"Bella…just take the jacket." Edward's voice was serious.

I sighed and said, "fine." I took the jacket from his outstretched hand and slid my arms into the sockets, wearing the jacket backwards.

Edward's cologne was hard to describe. It was not like any other scented spray or deodorant. It was his natural smell. A mix between freshness and mint; I tried to inhale his scent subtly without him noticing.

We were quiet for the rest of the ride home. It did not take long to come within the Forks boundaries with Edward's insane driving. As Charlie's house was nearing I asked what day it was. I had completely lost track of the time.

He laughed.

"It's still the same day when you got hit." He answered, smiling.

I looked over at him and his smile took my breath away. I smiled back in return. Forgetting everything that has happened between us, from me being angry with him, to him not liking me, or so I thought.

So it was Monday, My school bag and jacket was still at school. I would have to get them tomorrow.

The car stopped and we were in the driveway of the house now. I turned towards Edward, and said, "Thanks." I smiled

"Your welcome Bella, see you tomorrow." He said back to me, smiling.

I opened the door, stepped out and shut the door. I walked up to the front steps of the porch, and waved back to Edward. My father was not home because his police cruiser was not in the driveway. I reached up under the eave to retrieve the key.

Once the door was unlocked, I rubbed my head, forgetting about the tender spot where the tree branch hit me. I winced in pain, reminding myself not to do that again.

Right on cue, Charlie walked in. I wondered if Charlie saw Edward leaving. I had no idea if he knew about my little incident. I pretended to play dumb, and wait for him to say something. It was late for Charlie to be coming home. He usually came home at around 5:00. It was now 6:30. I was thankful that I would not have to explain to him about my accident.

I realized that I was still wearing Edward's jacket.

Shit! What was I going to say to Charlie?

"Hey Bella, how was your day?" Charlie asked me, coming up behind me.

"Hey dad, it was great, um, I'm be right back okay? I'm just going to go change into my pyjamas." I hoped Charlie would let me go.

"Alright Bella." Charlie let me go upstairs.

I made my way up the stairs quickly. I decided that I might as well take a shower tonight instead of in the morning. I grabbed my pyjamas and my toiletry bag, went to the bathroom, and grabbed a towel from the linen closet on the way.

I closed the bathroom door behind and looked at myself in the mirror. I look really tired, my hair was lopsided, if that was even possible, and I had heavy bags under my eyes. My face was even paler than usual, from being outside in the cold.

I dressed down and turned on the hot water, washing my hair and my body, removing any dirt. After I dried myself off and put my clothes on I brushed my teeth and went through my hair with my brush. I threw my towel over the rack, and walked back to my room, opening the door and throwing my toiletries on the rocking chair.

I walked back down the stairs into the room where Charlie was watching TV. "Hey dad, sorry about that, I just wanted to take a quick shower." I answered his unsaid question.

He grunted his approval and nodded his head. Not looking away from his game.

I folded my legs underneath each other and looked at the TV. It was some football game playing.

Within five minutes I was asleep.

I felt Charlie carry my upstairs and lay me down underneath the covers. I immediately pulled the covers up to my chin.

I woke up in the morning at about five. I groaned and tried to go back to sleep. It didn't work.

I eventually got up at 5:20, deciding that sleep wasn't going to come back to me again. I went through my closet and found a pair of jeans, a blue t-shirt and a hoodie-sweater. I got dressed quickly and went to the bathroom to take a look at my hair. It looked fine down and so I left it.

Going down the stairs I found Charlie in the kitchen eating a friend egg and a piece of toast. "What no breakfast for me?" I joked, grinning.

"Aw, sorry Bella, I didn't know you were going to be up this early." Charlie responded, sounding upset.

I laughed, "that's okay dad, I didn't think I'd be up this early either.

I grabbed a frying pan, an egg and a piece of toast, beginning to make the same breakfast as Charlie was eating. As I was sitting down at the table, Charlie kissed me on the forehead and left to go to work.

I finished my breakfast by 6:00. I had about an hour and a half before I thought Edward was going to come to get me. I washed the dishes, trying to take my time to delay going outside to wait.

After I was done I ran upstairs to brush my teeth and grab Edward's jacket.

At the front door I put my shoes on and walked out the door, turning around to close and lock it. I did not realize what the weather was like outside.

I turned around and gasped.

The whole landscape was covered with snow.

I groaned loudly and mentally cursed at the snow.

That's when I felt the snowball hit my shoulder.


	6. Err?

**Hey there, sorry it took so long to post a new chapter up. Been really busy.**

**Here's another long one!**

**Lots of reviews please!**

**I do not own Twilight it belongs to Stephanie Meyer**

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I whipped my head back and forth, trying to find out where the snowball had come from. I didn't expect it was someone who lived around my house. I didn't know any of the nearby neighbours, and I didn't think any of the kids that went to my school lived out by me.

I heard booming laughter come from all directions. It was hard to tell where the source of the laughter was coming from. The laughter seemed really familiar, but I couldn't place it. It was a deep voice, a male's.

I looked all around the front yard, not sure what exactly to look for. A male, obviously, but I didn't know whom to look for.

I cautiously stepped onto the first step on the front porch. I walked down the steps carefully, and very slowly. I turned my head from side to side, wondering if another snowball was going to come sailing into my face. I hoped it wouldn't, my head still hurt from the chaotic event yesterday.

After I got to the end of the steps, I stopped walking and folded my arms across my chest. It was cold out, and I made a mental note to myself to go grab another sweater inside. I shivered involuntarily, and started to walk to my big, red truck.

I was becoming paranoid. My eyes were wide with fright and suspiciousness. I heard the laughter come again, and I jumped a mile in the air.

I gasped and twirled around, looking towards the back of the house. I was positive that that was where the laughter was coming from. I edged slowly towards the side of the house. Deciding and weighing my options. I could run, jump in my truck and drive to school. I could call out to see who was there. Walk slowly towards the back of the house and be scared the shit out of me. Or I could run quickly to the back and quickly capture the intruder who was mocking and laughing at me.

I decided that yelling something out was not the greatest idea. Running away was the closest option that was looking really good right now. But I wanted desperately to find out whom it was that threw the snowball at me. I chose to try and creep up slowly to the intruder and try to scare them. See how they like being scared.

Walking slowly again to the side of the house, I made my way silently and carefully. Praying that I wouldn't step on a twig or something else that would make my presence known. I hoped that it would be someone that I knew so that I wouldn't be freaked out. If it wasn't someone I knew, I would be very scared. I also didn't want them to scare me again. Which would make me embarrass myself or do something worse.

When I reached the side of the house, I put my arms on either side of my body my hands against the house. Sidestepping and crossing my feet, spy style. I shifted my weight from foot to foot, walking along the side of the house.

Just when I was about to turn the corner of the house, I heard a loud thumping noise and people shouting.

"Oww! What was that for?!"

"For being an idiot! Why did you do that to her?!"

"I wanted to go meet her, and then the idea just came into my head!"

I was so confused to who the people were. I decided to make my move and walk out to the two guys who were now fighting. I recognized both voices, and I was positive of the once voice. His all too familiar, velvet, silk voice, was now laced with anger. Edward was there, behind my house.

I walked around the corner, and was faced with Edward holding a muscular person in a headlock. I was unsure how Edward was able to do it. It looked like the muscular man could just snap Edward in half like a twig. I then realized that the muscular man was Edward's brother, Emmett.

I had never spoken to Emmett before. I once saw him the day I almost got hit by a car. Him, his brother and Edward were laughing. They had just come inside from their snowball fight. That's why I recognized his laughter.

They hadn't noticed me yet, for they were still arguing, and Emmett was struggling to get free. It was a miracle that Edward was able to retain Emmett in his grasp. I decided to give them a sign I was here. I cleared my throat and crossed my arms.

Their heads snapped up and they immediately let go of each other.

"How did we not hear you…?" Edward trailed off, shaking his head.

"Yeah, hi. What are you guys doing? I don't even know who you are…" I said to Emmett directly, pointing at him.

"Ohh, sorry. I'm Emmett, Edward's older brother." Emmett smiled sheepishly, looking at me.

Edward glanced over to Emmett, a smirk on his lips. I didn't know why, but it seemed like they were sharing a private joke.

"I'm Bella, as you probably already know…" I stammered, waving my hand to him. "So what exactly are you guys doing here at my house so early in the morning? I know Edward was supposed to come and get me to drive me to school, but I never told him a time."

Edward stiffened, searching for a reply to what I said. Emmett decided to help his bother out and stepped towards me.

"Edward talks so much about you, and so I wanted to come down here and meet you. I thought the three of us could drive to school together. But it seems that Edward didn't know that I was going to come down here. I threw a snowball at you because it was funny to see your reaction to see all the snow out here." He chuckled, smiling hugely at me.

I laughed in response. I already like Emmett. He was easy to get along with and seemed fun. "Yeah, I hate snow, and you managed to scare me pretty good."

I just realized. How did they get here? I did not see the silver Volvo outside by my truck. I put my hands on my hips and narrowed my eyes. "How did you guys get here?" I asked, looking sceptically at the both of them. I could see the word CRAP, going through their heads, for neither of them responded to my question. I waited a minute to see if they were going to answer me. It seemed they weren't going to.

"Well…?" I pushed, waiting for an answer.

"Ran." Edward said.

"Walked." Emmett said.

They both looked at each other and back at me.

I shifted my weight onto one foot and said, "Do you live near here?"

"Yes."

"No."

Edward answered yes, and Emmett answered no. Again, they both looked at each other. I could see the glare that said, 'you idiot', coming from Edward.

I shook my head and let it go. "It doesn't matter where you live. I don't really want to know in fact." What I really wanted to know was how they got here. They wouldn't really walk all the way here just to see me, would they?

I turned around to walk back to the front, but Edward grabbed my arm. "What..?" I asked as I looked down at his hand, and then to his face, which was really close to mine. I stepped backwards once, and slowly pulled my arm from his grip. He stepped forward into the spot I was just in. "Why don't we go wait inside or something while we wait for Emmett to come back." Edward suggested. I just realized that Emmett was gone from our presence.

"Uhh…sure?" I responded, unsure of what to say. I looked down at the jacket I still had in my hands. "Here," I said, as I handed it to Edward, sad to be parting with it. "Let's go back inside, I have to go grab a sweater anyways.

I led the way back to the front of the house with Edward walking silently behind me. I was starting to give up reason to conspire against Edward. I wanted desperately to be away from him, and have nothing to do with him. But he just kept coming back again and again. He was weakening my resolve by the minute. I was starting to come up with a decision. I agreed to myself that I would by civil with Edward and maybe try to talk to him more. He wouldn't leave me alone, and I wasn't winning. I would just have to be friends with him.

I walked up the front steps and unlocked the door that I had just recently locked. I stepped inside, holding the door open for Edward to come in as well. "You can sit in the living room, I'm just going to go grab my sweater from my room." I said to Edward, motioning to the living room and then walking towards the steps.

"Alright," Edward replied, looking around the room. Probably judging the room to not be elegant because of its simplicity.

I walked up the doors and opened the door to my room, and walking over to the closet to find another suitable sweater that would keep me warm throughout the cold day. Of course, I just had to catch my foot on the leg of the rocking chair in my room. I fell facedown, with my arms outstretched, embracing the floor. It was an all to well known procedure that had happened to me many times in my childhood. I could start a teaching class about how to brace yourself for a fall.

I hit the floor with a loud thud, and to my surprise, it didn't hurt. I must be coming immune to getting hurt from falling.

I pushed myself up onto my knees and just started to grab the dresser for support to stand up, when instead of the dresser, I felt Edward's cold hand. I did not get a shock like I did that last time I touched his hand. I looked at Edward's face and his eyes were widened in fear. "Are you hurt?" He asked me. "No I'm alright, thank you though." I stood up and brushed off any dirt off of myself and quickly turned to the closet to find a sweater.

Edward Cullen in my room seemed very awkward. I pulled the blue sweater I chose out of the closet over my head and noticed Edward looking at the photos on my dresser.

"That's you." He stated, pointing at a little girl laughing. It was I at the age of five years old. I was at the park with my mother, Renee. She had been taking pictures of me all day that day. I smiled, remembering that specific day. "Yes, at five years old." Edward nodded his head and looked at me. His eyes seemed so distant and far away. They also held sadness. "What's wrong?" I quietly asked. Edward looked up into my eyes again and shook his head. "Nothing. Just thinking I guess…" He trailed off, staring blankly at the wall beside me.

He continued talking, "trying to remember my childhood." Edward whispered so quietly, I had to strain my ears to hear him. "I think you know that my parents are actually my foster parents." He looked at me once again to see if I knew or not. I nodded my head in reply. "Yes, my real parents died when I was very young. I do not remember that much about them." His eyes grew even sadder with the words he was saying to me. I reached up to his arm and softly said, "It's okay to miss them." Edward nodded his head and looked towards to door. "I think Emmett will be back with the car now." He responded.

I withdrew my hand from his arm startled, completely forgetting about Emmett coming back with a car. I walked to the door and down the stairs. I couldn't hear Edward behind me, but I knew he was there. I opened the front door and stepped aside to let Edward through.

The moment Edward stepped onto the front porch; I heard a loud engine roar. My eyes widened and I quickly shut the door and locked it. I wanted to see what type of car Emmett had. As soon as I laid eyes on his vehicle, my mouth fell open. It was a huge jeep. Edward groaned loudly and yelled, "Emmett! Why the jeep?!" I was too stunned to say anything. I hesitantly took a step forward to the vehicle and looked up at Emmett to see him leaning out the window looking down at me; grinning hugely.

"Nice jeep?" I commented uncertainly.


	7. Confessions

**Ahh…I know you guys are going to hate me for posting a short chapter, and ending it where I did. I'm sorry; I just had to do it. The next chapter will be long again. Review though, please! Let me know if I am or I am not staying in character.**

I do not own Twilight it belongs to Stephanie Meyer 

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Edward groaned loudly behind me again. "Honestly Emmett, why the jeep? It's big and everyone will look at us at school!" Edward started protesting, grinding his teeth together and throwing death glares at Emmett.

"It's not like everyone doesn't already look at you now…" I muttered mostly to myself, but Edward looked towards me and I realized he had heard me. I felt a blush slowly rising to heat my cold cheeks.

"What do you mean?" Edward asked me. As if he didn't already know! He must have known the effect he and his family had on people. Their gorgeous topaz eyes, their inhuman cold, and hard skin, his velvet smooth voice, how he was such a gentleman…

I quickly snapped out of my revere and noticed that Edward and Emmett were now looking at me for a response. I realized that I was also only thinking about only Edward. I had to stop myself, what was becoming of me?

I scoffed and shook my head lightly, hopping to remove the thoughts from my head. Wanting them to fall out of my ear and not to think about them anymore. I looked at Emmett, and then towards Edward, trying to think of something to say. Something that didn't give away the fact that I might be coming attracted to Edward. "Well…you guys are all…" I stammered, and the blush that was still on my face deepened even more. I shuffled my feet and scratched the back of my head hoping that they wouldn't want further explanation. I felt as though the brothers knew what I was thinking and were just mocking me.

I sighed loudly and decided to tell them, "You guys must know that you are all gorgeous!" I half yelled, throwing my arms in the air in exasperation, turning around from them and then facing them again. "There I've said it, are you happy?" I glanced up at Emmett underneath my eyelashes, nervous of what they were going to say. They honestly had to know they were gorgeous…

Emmett's lips were pressed together in a thin line, trying to hide his laughter. I could tell it was really hard for him to do it. He finally broke out laughing, throwing his head back. My eyes widened and then narrowed at him, pursing my lips together. Emmett decided to give me an explanation, "Yes we know most people at the school think that. I just wanted to hear you say it, it was funny."

I swear I invented a new shade of red for the colour chart. I was definitely not cold anymore, thanks to the brothers embarrassing me and making me confess. I tried to be reasonable and said, "If you guys don't want to be noticed, then why do you all have such nice cars and stuff?" I asked because it was strange that they were rich, but yet they didn't want to be noticed and they all had fancy cars. I knew that the students would still notice them anyways, with or without their cars.

Edward answered for me, "we like to drive fast. Gives us something to do in Forks." He smiled sheepishly at me. His smile was breathtaking and I thought to myself that he should definitely smile more often. His eyes always looked so hard and sad. Edward's smile lit up his entire face and his eyes brightened whenever he smiled.

"I see," nodding my head. "I think we should go to school now…" I suggested, trailing off and wondering what time it was.

"Emmett, we are not taking the jeep to school, go home and get my Volvo. We'll be waiting here." Edward looked really serious and it looked like he would kill Emmett if he didn't obey.

Emmett groaned, "aww, alright." He shoulders slumped and he retreated back inside the jeep and started up the engine again. He turned the jeep back around on the small road. It looked impossible to do, but Emmett somehow managed to do it.

I watched him drive away and then turned and walked to the steps, sitting down and waiting for Emmett to come back with the Volvo. Edward walked over to me and stood in front of me, his hands clasped behind his back.

"Are we ever going to go to school today?" I asked Edward, glancing up at him, raising my hand to protect my eyes from the snow that was falling. He chuckled, looking towards the road and answered, "I don't know maybe?" It was more of a question than an answer. He looked back towards me and asked, "it doesn't really matter if we don't go to school. It's not like we learn anything new…"

I frowned up at him, wondering what on earth he meant by that. I sighed and stood up, brushing the snow off of my legs. My hair was starting to feel soaked and I probably looked ridiculous.

I walked down the steps and stopped right in front of Edward. I cocked my head to the side and looked into his eyes. Our faces were merely inches away. I was trying to figure out who the real Edward was behind his impenetrable wall. I needed to find a way to break that wall and decipher whom he really was. I starred deep into his eyes, looking for the emotion that was buried underneath the sheer glass.

I don't know how long it was we stood there, gazing into each other's eyes, but Edward's eyes were starting to clear up. I could almost see the emotion burning before he spoke, "what are you starring at?" As if he didn't know. He was breathing really heavily as if he was catching his breath. I finally saw the emotion and it was desire.

I gasped quietly before whispering a response to him, "you."


	8. Revenge

**Another long chapter, I personally like this chapter. **

**20 reviews would be wonderful!**

I do not own Twilight it belongs to Stephanie Meyer 

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"And…" Edward breathed, "why are you starring at me?" His eyes closed shut, and then as quickly as he closed them, he opened them back up and starred at me. His topaz eyes were now rimmed with an emotion I did not recognize. Edward's eyes were unbelievably bright and I thought I was going to become blinded.

"I'm trying…" I stammered, searching for the right words, "to find out, who you really are. Why you hide your emotions and why you do not let anyone else see them. Why you have this enormous brick wall before your eyes and you won't let anyone come within radius of it." I wanted so badly at that moment to touch him. To make him feel better, to hold him in my arms. I knew that he had told me before he was dangerous, but I didn't care.

I reached my hand up tentatively and brushed my fingertips across his cold cheek. His eyes closed and he leaned forward to my touch. His cheeks were so cold and smooth and I wanted to feel more of it. I pressed my whole palm against his check and he breathed my name, "Bella…I wish…I could explain to you, how I feel." His eyes opened, and they were darker than before, and were continuing to get dark. It was strange that he wanted me to touch him because he had leaned towards me, but yet his eyes were getting darker, as if I was a threat.

I tore my gaze away from his eyes and looked down at his chest. That's when I noticed that he wasn't breathing. I started to withdraw my hand from his face slowly, but Edward's hand came flashing up and he put his hand over my hand. Keeping it firmly in place. I gasped quietly and brought my head back up to look at him. He was looking intently at me.

Right in that moment, all of my independence shattered. I wanted nothing more than to be with him. I started to wonder at why I wanted to stay away from him before. How could anyone want to stay away from him? He was mysterious and dangerous, this I knew. But the only thing that I could think of was that Edward was confused. He was an independent person like me. Unlike me though, it looked like he didn't want to be independent anymore.

Before when I first met Edward and he wouldn't leave me alone, I wanted to hit him, scream at him and beg him to leave me alone. I wanted to keep to myself and only make a couple of friends here in Forks. I did not have that many friends back on Phoenix, and I didn't think I would make many new friends here. I have always been the shy, pale girl who doesn't play any sports. Average looking and smart. I never thought someone such as Edward would actually want to talk to me.

We stood there for an amount of time, the world seemed to stop and Edward's eyes gradually started going light again. He stared breathing again, and I wanted to know what was the cause of this lightness and darkness in his eyes. I had never seen someone before with a shade of eye colour that Edward and his family all have.

I heard a car come speeding down the road and Edward grabbed my hand from his face and I withdrew my hand back. I stepped backwards and took a deep breath. It felt like I hadn't been breathing the entire time my hand was on his face. My hand was cold and I looked down at it, flexing it and watching the snowflakes fall into the middle of my palm. I looked upwards to the sky and felt snowflakes flutter onto my eyelids. I brought my gaze back down and looked at Edward who was watching me.

I blushed and looked at the Volvo that was pulling up towards us. Emmett got out of the car and tossed Edward the keys over the top of the car. Edward walked to the driver's side and I walked to the back of the car, pulling open the door in the back. Emmett glanced at me, frowning, but then got into the passenger side.

I shut the door and strapped on the seatbelt, leaning my head against the seat and looking out the window. I felt the car move and I watched the green world slowly drift into a cold, white world. The snow was fluffy and it stuck to tree branches, making the trees look mysterious and enchanting. The snow was coming down harder now and it was thick. I assumed it was the type of snow that one could have a snowball fight in, or make a snowman.

I glanced forward and leaned around to look at the time. The clock said 7:45, but it felt as though hours had gone by. Emmett turned around in his seat and faced me, a huge grin on his face. I smiled back, his grin was too infectious to ignore. Emmett glanced over to Edward, who had a composed face, showing no emotion. He looked back towards me and said, "you don't really hate the snow do you?"

Stunned by his random question, I replied back, "yes I do, it's cold and wet. Why would someone want to play around with the two worst combinations of elements?" Edward chuckled and looked back to me and then towards the road again. "Aw come on Bella, a snowball fight at school wouldn't be too bad would it?" Emmett's eyes were pleading me.

"Now way!" I yelled, outraged. "Although it is tempting to throw snow at some of the students I don't like…" I trailed off. This made Emmett smile even wider, if that was possible. "So it's a yes?" He asked. "No! I don't want to handle snow, and pack it together with my hands…" I scrunched up my face and noticed that both brothers were watching me. Edward through the review mirror, and Emmett was still turned around in his seat. Emmett started laughing and Edward smiled. "What?" I asked innocently.

"It's nothing, Edward replied with a smirk plastered on his face. Emmett turned back around in his seat and faced forwards, giving up hope on trying to persuade me into having a snowball fight. I smiled a little to myself and looked out the window again.

I saw that we were coming into the school grounds and the parking lot was just up ahead. I watched other students pull up into the school and watched them as they filed into the school. There weren't that many people here because the first bell wasn't going to ring for another half an hour.

Edward pulled up beside a red convertible in the parking lot. I raised my eyebrows and asked, "who's car is that?" Emmett looked back to me and smiled, "Rosalie's." "Wow," I muttered. It was a very nice red convertible and I didn't understand the fact that they didn't want to be noticed, but yet they had these outrageous cars.

Edward parked the car and both he and Emmett got out. I was slower than them, and took my time getting out. I didn't want to slip and fall on the slippery snow. I shut the door quietly, and walked slowly to the front of the car.

As I was walking, I turned around the side of the car to where Edward was and I felt my foot slip out from beneath me. I gave a little shriek and put my hands in the air. Before I even had a chance to fall halfway down to the ground, Edward caught me. I heard him groan and then say, "can you go through one day without falling?" He looked down at me and then righted me back up on my feet.

I gasped and replied, "thank you, and no I don't think I can." Edward shook his head and started walking. I walked up beside him and we walked together to the shelter of the roof over the benches. Emmett had left to go find Rosalie. Edward stopped walking and turned to face me. "I'll see you at the end of the day back here?" I nodded in reply and started walking to go inside to my locker. I was still cold and I wanted my jacket.

"Oh Bella?" Edward called after me. I turned around and he had amusement in his eyes. "Yes? I replied. "Try to be safe today. There's a lot of snow on the ground." His face went into a devilish smirk and he turned to walk away. "Yeah I'll try!" I shouted after him, my face turning grim and sulky. Why did I have to be so clumsy?

I walked to the front door and pulled it open. Walking inside into the front hallway of the school. I passed the front office and a few classrooms. I walked through the front building and into the second building where my locker was located. There were not many people inside the halls. I crossed my arms over my chest, shivering. Every time there were windows, I would look outside to find people in random snowball fights, shouting and laughing as they threw packed up snow at each other.

I walked up to my locker and opened it, grabbing my jacket and stuffing my arms into the sleeves and pulling up the zipper. I wish I had brought mittens and maybe a scarf, but I didn't think of it this morning. I closed my locker and walked aimlessly through the halls, waiting for the bell to ring. I walked slowly, thinking about nothing in particular.

In between the buildings, there were random patches of space where students were playing with the snow. I walked outside to watch a group of students start making ammunition for their enemies across the small yard. I walked past them, hoping to not get showered with snowballs.

I watched them begin their war and I noticed five people having their own little war. They were none other than Edward, Alice, Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett. Emmett and Jasper were currently throwing snow at each other while Edward stood there and laughed. The girls were trying to avoid the sailing snow going past their heads. They were all laughing except for Rosalie who was looking paranoid about the snow hitting her. I smiled to myself walking past the five gorgeous people, watching them enjoy their fight.

I stopped walking and looked down at the snow on the ground. I bent down, using my left hand to scrape some snow onto my right hand. I straightened up and squished the snow together between my palms. The intense cold from the snow was shocking. It created a shiver down through my back. I hissed through my teeth and ignored it. Moulding the snow between my hands into a perfect small ball of cold, fluffy stuff.

I honestly didn't understand why people liked to touch this stuff. I looked back towards Edward and his back was facing me. I smirked, and then quickly threw my arm back over my head, bringing it back out in front of me and letting go of the ball. Alice snapped her head to me, but it was too late. The snowball hit Edward square in the back of the head. I whooped inside my head and smiled.

All five siblings looked at me, shock written on their faces. I laughed and yelled out to Edward, putting my hands over to mouth to create more emphasis. "Be safe today Edward!" I brought my hands down and started walking back inside the building. The bell rang, and I heard Emmett's booming laughter behind me. I stole a glance backward and Edward's face was incredulous. He was very shocked, and it looked like his eyes would pop out of his head any moment. Emmett clapped his hand on his brother's back, laughing. Edward staggered forward and snapped back to reality. Alice's face was bright and happy and she joined in the laugher. Her musical and chiming laughter was the opposite of Emmett's.

I faced forward again and continued walking inside, the snow still falling all around me, with a smile on my face.


	9. Persuasion

**SO sorry!**

**I've been so busy with school, and activities! I also had writer's block.**

**But I have outlined the next chapters, so hopefully they will be up sooner than this one was.**

**So glad that they've chosen a 'Bella' for the movie! I think Kristen Stewart will play an excellent Bella. I really would love to know who will play Edward.**

**I do not own Twilight it is Stephanie Meyer's**

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I was content throughout the rest of the day. I knew that Edward would question me in biology after lunch, and I was prepared for it. I was however, not prepared for Alice Cullen at lunchtime.

I walked through the front doors of the cafeteria and headed towards the lunch line. I was actually really hungry today. I was contemplating on whether or not to get pizza or a hotdog when Alice Cullen came up behind me. I didn't know it was she at first, so I just glanced backwards and she smiled at me, and I returned the smile back

I was inching forward and reaching for a slice of pizza when I felt a small tap on my shoulder. I grabbed the slice and looked behind me. Alice was smiling at me, and said, "go pay for your lunch first, and then we'll talk." Her voice was so soft and she had a very bubbly personality. She is always in such high spirits; I don't think I've ever seen her upset before.

"Okay," I replied, with a quizzical expression. She just laughed and followed behind me with her tray to the cash. I paid for my food and waited for Alice to pay for hers. It felt a little awkward waiting for her. No one usually associates with the Cullens; or so I was told. I understood why. They seemed to always be off in their own world, and did not interact with those around them.

Once Alice paid, she turned to me and asked tentatively, "Do you want to sit me today?" At first I was taken back by her question and blinked a few times. I realized she must have thought I was paralyzed, for she stood there looking at me. I gathered my thoughts and replied, "sure, but what brought all this on?"

Alice smiled, and started walking to an empty table. It was the same table that Edward had asked me to sit at yesterday. She sat down on one side and motioned for me to do the same. I sat down across from her, sitting down slowly and pulling my hair back off of my shoulders. "You have very nice hair, it's so long and pretty." Alice complemented towards me. I smiled and mumbled coherently, "Thanks."

I reached for my pizza and began to eat it. I chewed off a piece and was chewing it slowly as I looked around the cafeteria. I noticed that some tables were whispering and trying to glace subtly at Alice and I. I looked over to where Alice's siblings usually sat and saw Edward looking at Alice, and when he caught me looking at him, his eyes averted to mine and I stopped chewing. Our gazes held each other's before Alice called my name. I resumed chewing again and looked towards Alice, my eyebrows raised in question.

"I wanted to sit with you to properly introduce myself." Alice answered my question I had asked earlier. "Oh." Was my simple, unintelligent response that I could come up with. "You look disgusted?" Alice asked, her face falling a little bit. "Oh! No, it just surprising, that's all. I didn't really think any of you guys talked to other kids?" I questioned Alice. "Not normally, but Edward talks to you, and I wanted to come and meet you; to see what you were like." She answered, smiling. This girl never seemed to stop smiling; but her smile was definitely infectious.

I smiled back and blushed slightly at the fact that everyone at Forks High seemed so interested in me. I honestly didn't find myself that interesting at all. I finished my pizza in silence and saw that Alice didn't touch her food.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone walking towards our table and I glanced towards them. It was Edward and he was looking at me. When he reached our table he looked at me and asked if I could sit down. I noticed that he was only asking for my permission. "Or are you going to reject me again?" Edward asked, humour deep in his eyes. "Just for that, I should say no." I retorted back, a smirk on my lips.

"Well, even if you say no, that's just too bad. I'm sitting down." The smirk on his face grew more pronounced as my smirk drifted away. I half smiled sarcastically at him and motioned for him to sit down. I pretended to be all-nice and offer to pull out his chair.

He just laughed and sat down beside Alice. "Would you like to know the real reason as to why I came over here?" Edward asked me. I narrowed my eyes in question because he still had humour in his eyes. Whatever his question was, I knew it was not going to be good. Edward looked at me, and then turned himself to face Alice. "Alice, my dear sister, whom is fond of everything spontaneous and fun. Did you know of a dance, this upcoming week?"

"Why yes dear brother, I have heard of a dance." Alice replied, smiling. I knew it; this was going to be bad and it seemed they were in on this together. I clasped my hands together and rested them on the table, sighing and waiting for Edward and Alice to continue speaking.

Edward glanced to me and then back to his sister. "Did you also know that Bella is not going to the dance?" Edward questioned his sister. Alice gasped in mock horror and then faced me. "Why Bella! Surely you must come to this dance. It is after all masquerade!" I groaned mentally and summoned up the most hateful glare upon Edward, who was smiling brilliantly at me. I didn't even falter when he unleashed his gaze upon me. I was too appalled.

"It would seem that Bella cannot go because she is going into Seattle that day." Edward responded to Alice, facing her again. Alice looked at her brother again and questioned: "And why can't Bella go into Seattle this weekend, instead of the next? That way she has both her share! Seattle, and a masquerade dance!" Alice's eyes danced with excitement as she looked back at me. Edward also turned to face me. Neither one of them speaking, and waiting for me to say something. I had to think of something, and _fast_. I bit my bottom lip and mentally cursed myself for not making plans to do something with someone.

"No," I said, glancing to Alice and then Edward and then back to Alice. None of the amusement faded in their eyes and they were both still staring at me. "Why not? Your not doing anything this Saturday are you?" Edward asked me. I winced slightly and tried to come up with something. Alice smiled, and said, "then it is settled dear Bella. This weekend to Seattle and then the dance the next weekend!"

"Honestly, I don't really want to go. I wouldn't be missing much. I hate dancing." I tried protesting to Alice and Edward, my eyes pleading. "Not a chance, come to the dance Bella." Alice looked at me wistfully. "But I already said no to Mike, Eric and Tyler." I protested again, counting up my fingers and then bringing them back down. "They'll think bad of me…and it will seem like I rejected them." I stammered. "Nonsense Bella. Just say that you changed your mind and that you'll save them a dance or something." Alice waved her hand around.

Edward looked murderous, and for what reason, I did not know. Alice cringed slightly and then looked at me again. "Please Bella? It will be fun, I promise." I turned up my top lip in grimace and closed my eyes, breathing deeply. I opened my eyes to see Alice smiling widely.

To my horror, the realization hit me. My eyes grew wide at what I was almost half agreeing to. If I had to go to Seattle this weekend, instead of the next…I had no way of getting there…for Edward was instructed to drive me around all week.

I groaned aloud and wiped my hand across my face. Edward and Alice were looking at me apprehensively and questioning. I rolled my eyes and sighed loudly. I looked at Edward and smiled sarcastically at him again. "Have you forgotten?" I asked. "I have a chaper-"

"Right." Edward smiled hugely. "Looks like you'll be going with me after all to Seattle."

The bell rang and we all stood up at the same time. Alice laughed heartily and bounced away to her class. I glared at Edward for a moment before walking away and out of the cafeteria.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid…_I continued to call myself over and over again. I pressed the palm of my hand to my forehead in exasperation before opening my locker and grabbing my books out hastily.

I stormed to biology class, waiting for Edward. I was definitely going to murder him. Him and his stupid persuasive ways and revenge against me for the snowball I threw at him. I assumed it was revenge anyhow. I would have to talk to him about that.

As I walked though the door to the biology classroom, I noticed Edward wasn't there yet. Good, I have time to prepare my hate speech. _You evil little…_

I was interrupted out of my thoughts when Mike came up right into my face smiling hugely. "Hey Bella," he said. "Are you still up for the beach trip this Saturday?" No, I'm going to Seattle apparently. "Going to Seattle Mike." I replied. Then realizing that it sounded like I was putting him off again and making excuses. I had said this to him when he asked me to go to the dance. I noticed someone walk into the room and walk towards the table I was sitting at; it was Edward. He sat down gracefully and didn't say a word.

"Aren't you going to Seattle next weekend?" Mike asked, his smile faltering. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Edward's corner of his lip twitch upwards. "Oh Mike, I'm not going to Seattle next weekend, I changed it to this weekend."

"So then you can come to the dance?" Mike's eyes lit up brightly, anticipating my reply. "Yes, sadly," I muttered quietly so Mike didn't hear. "I am going. But I was hoping to go alone; I'm not the type to go with someone. I was going to hang around with Alice there." I glanced up to look at Mike's eyes and they still held the brightness. "That's okay, just save me a dance." He said to me before turning away to his seat.

"This is all your fault." I whipped my head around to talk to Edward. He had a smile plastered on his face. "Ah, no you don't." He said, shaking his head with laughter. Edward look up at me underneath his eyelashes and smiled a grin that was crooked. It was weird, but looked irresistible on him. I in took a sharp breath and I looked at Edward's eyes. "You got to throw a snowball at me today. I still can't believe you took me completely off guard. It's only fair that I return the favour."

"What! I have to spend a whole day with you in Seattle, and then go to a mindless dance and trip all over myself." I scrunched up my nose and shook my end helplessly. "All I did was throw a snowball! What did I do to deserve this?"

Edward grinned and turned to face the front. Mr. Banner had walked into the classroom and he was beginning his lesson. I scowled as Mr. Banner droned on and on about cells…

The rest of the day passed uneventfully and I made my way to the benches underneath the roof where Edward was waiting for me. We walked silently to his car and got in silently. I was still agitated that he made me to Seattle with him _and _now the dance.

The seconds barely went by and the car was stopped. We were parked in front of my house and Edward was looking at me. "Thank you," I nodded to Edward and he smiled, "your welcome Bella." I stepped out of the car and made my way up the front steps, unlocked the door and shut it behind me.

I trudged my way upstairs and threw my bag on the bed. I turned on the computer, deciding that I should answer some of my mom's many emails. I changed my clothes into my pyjamas since I wouldn't be going out tonight and washed my face in the bathroom. By the time I came back into my room, the computer was loaded up. I went through about 10 emails from mom and sighed at the latest one she sent, attempting to threaten me. I answered the last couple of ones, telling her about recent events going on. I excluded the _most_ recent events that were planned today. Not wanting to have her freak out on me.

I was unbelievably tired, and when I sent the emails and shut of the computer, I flopped myself down on the bed. The moment my head hit the pillow, I fell into a deep sleep. Dreaming of many different images that were random. Most of the images were of me dancing around in a red dress and a white mask…

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Tsk, tsk, tsk… 

**If only Bella had agreed to go with Mike down to La Push.**

**She would have found out all about Edward.**

**Time will only tell…**

**Review please!**

**30 reviews would definitely make my day.**


	10. Dreams

**Another chapter…sorry it took so long; been really busy with school.**

**I do not own Twilight it belongs to Stephanie Meyer.**

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I was twirling around with someone in a tuxedo and a black mask. I was dressed in a blood red dress and a white mask that made me look dangerous. The man I did not recognize, for he was mysterious and every time I lifted up my hand from his shoulder to rip away his mask, he would turn his face away from me. I could not see his eyes, for some sort of veil that was attached to the mask, covered them up.

_The dance we were dancing was not like any other. The room was filled with many people and they were all silent as stone, watching us. The music filled my ears with a sweet tune played by the piano. The mysterious man continued to twirl me around until I almost felt sick. When he noticed this, he would stop and continue to manoeuvre around and around. I did not know what dance we were dancing, and I had no idea how I was able to keep up without falling. It seemed as if I had practiced this dance for hours on end, and I had mastered this difficult dance. _

_The music swelled up to a crescendo and the mysterious man tilted me back, exposing my pale neck to him. He lightly ran his fingers up from the top of my low cut dress, all the way to my neck. He curled his hand around my neck and brought his lips to the point underneath my jaw. I gasped slightly, wondering what he was doing. _

_He brought his lips to my ear and roughly whispered, "let us leave." His voice was laced with a raw passion that made my heart swell. He pulled me back up so I was upright again, which didn't help me anyways. I was wobbly, and I was so sure everyone knew it. _

_He led me to the back of the dance floor where there was a small, narrow hallway with doors on each side. He opened one door, and motioned for me to go inside. I stepped inside and looked around the beautiful room. The colours in the room matched his clothing and mine. The couches were a vivid shade of red, with a black table and carpet to compliment it. It was a simple dining room, but it was more than enough to satisfy anyone. One could simply come for a chat, and enjoy the simplicity of the room. This whole enchanting place was beautiful. I had no idea where I was, but I never wanted to leave._

_I heard the door close and I turned around to face this man. I wanted to find out once and for all who he was. I stepped forward to him, and he did the same. We continued walking towards each other until our faces were just inches away. _

_This time without hesitation, I quickly brought up my hand a snatched away his black mask. It was the only thing keeping me from seeing him. _

_The moment I did so, I gasped and dropped the mask. There were bright, topaz eyes starring straight back at me. He was outraged, for he grabbed my shoulders and he growled at me so loudly, and brought his face closer to mine. I instinctively reached my hand up to protect my face…but it was too late. He brought his lips to my neck and kissed me tenderly and then pushed me away from him. His eyes were black as midnight, matching his attire-_

And I gave a small shriek and fell out of my bed. The blankets were wrapped around me, and so they came with me. I huffed loudly and tried to gather my surroundings. I was on the floor, in my room, beside my bed. I was breathing heavily and my heart was beating very loudly in my chest. I glanced at the clock, which read 4:30 in bright red letters. I groaned loudly and picked myself off of the floor. I was still wearing the same clothing from yesterday. I vaguely remember falling asleep on my bed, not changing or eating anything after school. I put my sheets back onto the bed neatly and put myself on top of them. I realized I was sweating from the nerve-wracking dream I just had.

I stared up at the ceiling, noticing each and every paintbrush stroke from when my parents had painted this very room many years ago. It almost seemed like they weren't thinking about painting. The brush strokes were not very neat and it looked like mom and Charlie were just having fun. I imagined them here in this very room, smiling and laughing, _trying _to paint, but getting more paint upon them instead. The fantasy I was dreaming of a happy mom and Charlie was making me sad; so I pushed them from my head. How could they ever split up? They used to be so happy.

The pushed out thought quickly re-entered my mind again. I was imagining mom and Charlie in the kitchen downstairs, with me cooking dinner. All of us chatting happily and excitedly, about nothing in particular. I wondered if I would have ever moved to Phoenix, if mom never left Charlie. I would have already been friends with most of the people at Forks High. I would have been able to see the Cullen's when they first arrived. Thinking of this brought up another thought of how my first meeting would go with Edward. Would he still hate me the same way he had when he first saw me? Would he still be talking to me and trying to get me to oblige to go places with him? My life could have been so much different.

I turned over on my side and faced the closet door, sighing. My eyes were not cooperating with me and they would not close. I lay there, unmoving, only blinking and breathing. I looked up to the clock again and the red letters read 4:45. I scowled and got off the bed. I walked to the closet and swung open the door.

I starting shifting through the couple pairs of jeans I owned. _Definitely have to buy some more jeans this weekend in Seattle…eww, Seattle with Edward. Well it doesn't seem that bad…_

I looked to the floor to see a pair of white and black sneakers. _That's odd…I don't have a pair like that…_I followed the shoes and my eyes widened largely. There were legs attached to the shoes.

I stepped backwards and screamed. The pair of shoes huffed loudly and started following me out of the closet. The person pushed back the clothing and stepped out of the closet. I thought for sure I was going to faint. I brought my hands up to either side of my face in shock.

Edward Cullen was standing in front of me and looking intently at me.

Yes, I was definitely going to faint.

_There was_ _no way in hel-_

"Bella," Edward stated, "this is not what you think. I have a very perfect and rational explanation as to why I was in your closet." I was contemplating on whether or not to think Edward was a stalker, or a creeper.

The latter seemed most obvious. He already knew where I lived and has been in my room before. _Why is he in my room?!_ I shouted angrily at myself. I stepped backwards again, slowly, putting my arms in front of me as if to caution him. _Yeah, like what could I do to him?_

"What are you doing in my room? More specifically, my _closet?_" I hissed between clenched teeth. I wondered when Charlie was going to come bursting through my door. I frowned, and looked towards the door. I looked back at Edward and stated, "Wait here." I pointed at him sternly.

I opened the door to my room and crept quietly down the hallway. When I reached Charlie's room, I bent forward and opened the door cautiously and slowly. I pushed the door open and straightened my back. The room was empty. Frowning again, I closed the door and walked door the stairs carefully. I unlocked the front door and glanced around outside. The snow from the previous day was still coating up the world and the snow was cast in darkness, making the outside look ominous. The cruiser was not there.

My frown deepened, Charlie would be gone at 4 in the morning already? It was Wednesday, and Charlie still had to work. Maybe something came up at the station…

After shutting the door, I made my way back up stairs quickly. Edward had some serious explaining to do. I walked back into the room with my arms crossed over my chest. Before I could say something Edward said, "Charlie left about 10 minutes ago. That's when I came. I could not go to sleep and I decided to take a walk. I was just walking aimlessly and I happened to come across your house. I heard someone shouting and so I went up to your house to investigate. I realized it was you and I wanted to see if you were okay. I opened the front door-," I opened my mouth to say something but he cut me off. "-It was unlocked, and came to your room to find you sleeping. I then realized that you were having a bad dream. I heard Charlie getting up, so I hid in your closet, and then eventually he left for work. I came back out, and then you woke up, so I went into your closet again."

"I'm sorry Bella, I really didn't meant to frighten you. Please do not think badly of me. I wasn't trying to creep you out or anything." He held his hands out to me and stepped forward, but then stopped and lowered his head to the ground. "It's fine." I blurted out, without thinking. I was literally insane. Of course, it's fine that someone was hiding in your closet…then again, he heard me shouting and came to see if I was all right…

He blinked stupidly at me before frowning and asking, "are you serious? You should be frightened, yell at me, hit me, _do something to me!_" It was then my turn to blink stupidly. "Why would I do that? So what, you came to check up on me to see if I was hurt. It was sweet of you."

I turned away from him and mentioned, "I'm going down stairs now. You can follow me, or leave if you wish, either way I don't care." I walked down the stairs carefully and made my way to the kitchen to find some cereal. I reached up on my tiptoes to snatch a bowl from the cupboard. I missed once and was reaching up to try again, but one long arm beat me to it. I smirked to myself; Edward chose to stay.

For some reason I was pleasantly pleased that he chose to stay and not leave right away. I muttered thanks and proceeded to get the rest of the necessary items needed for my breakfast. I asked Edward if he wanted anything, but he politely declined. We both sat down at the table across from each other and I noticed that he was wearing sweat pants and a t-shirt. He still looked unbelievably handsome. I guess it didn't matter what he wore.

"I still can't believe you didn't freak out on me." Edward stated, shaking his head. I shrugged my shoulders and replied, "well I'm sorry if I'm such a nice and understanding person." I lightly teased him, smiling. He laughed and looked up, meeting my eyes.

I blushed, and quickly looked back down to my food. "What's today? Wednesday?" I asked. Edward nodded, "the week's almost over, and then it's Saturday." He smiled, blinding me with his perfect, white teeth. After I composed myself I scowled at him. "I still haven't forgiven you for that you know. I can't believe you tricked me!" I accused.

His grin became more pronounced, "I can't help it if my family and I happen to be persuasive." My eyes automatically narrowed on him as I stood up to throw my empty bowl and spoon in the sink. I'll wash it later tonight.

"I should probably get home now…as you can tell, I'm not exactly dressed for school." Edward threw his hands about himself, trying to prove his point. "Alright." I replied.

I walked Edward to the front door and let him outside. He turned back to me, "sorry about that again, and thanks for being understanding."

"It's fine, don't worry about it." I replied. I stopped in the middle of the door, leaning against it, watching him walk down the stairs. "See you at school!" I called out. He looked back at me and nodded his head.

I heard a shrilling sound that happened to be the phone. _That's odd, who would be calling here at this time in the morning? _I looked back inside the house startled and then back towards Edward, but he was gone.

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So…someone happened to guess what I was going to do lol, when someone reviewed the last chapter, they suggested that Edward should be in the room. I was like 'gahh!' When they guessed it. 

**I've always wanted Bella to catch Edward in her room.**

**Review please!**


	11. Phone Calls

**I am so sorry!**

**It's been forever since I have updated, I know. I have been so busy with school and assignments. I will still keep writing this story even though my life is hectic right now.**

**I think you guys will like this chapter, enjoy.**

**I do not own Twilight it belongs to Stephanie Meyer.**

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I quickly shut the door and dashed to the ringing phone, surprisingly not tripping along the way. I picked up the phone and answered breathlessly, "Hello?" I tried to catch my breath. "Bella, are you alright?" It was Charlie. "Yeah dad, I'm fine, I ran to the phone, that's all."

"Ohh okay. I know it's still early and all in the morning, but I wanted to tell you before I left for work." Work? "Aren't you at work right now?" I asked.

"No, I left early because Jacob Black called me. His father, Billy, fell out of his wheelchair. Jacob didn't know who else to call." "Who's Jacob?" I asked, completely mystified. I knew the last name 'Black,' it sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it.

"Remember those fishing trips I used to go on with Billy?" No. "You would play with the two girls." Charlie answered my unspoken question. "Ohh, I remember, somewhat…" I trailed off. He chuckled, "that's okay, it doesn't really matter. The girls are off at school, and Jacob is two years younger that you are. Anyways, I want you to come to their house after school. I'm going to be coming there after work, and I was hoping you could help make dinner? I don't want Billy to get up for a while, he's in pain."

"Yeah, sure dad, that's fine. I can make dinner." I replied. "How do I get there?" Charlie gave me the complicated directions to Billy's house and I hung up the phone.

I went up the stairs and began my morning procedure for getting ready for school. The procedure consisted of brushing my teeth and my hair, changing into a pair of black jeans with a white sweater over top.

I sat down on the bed and stared out the window of my room. It was only 5:30, so I didn't need to leave for school yet. _Wait…Edward still has to pick me up for school; his father has not released me yet. I hope he didn't forget_…_Bella!_ I mentally screamed at myself.

Why do I have to feel this way? I do not want to show vulnerability towards Edward, and I do not want him to see me falling for him. Was I falling for him?

I couldn't be. I don't want to fall for Edward. He seems to be everything someone could ask for. But there's something strange about him; he seems to be hiding a big secret. Like it's the end of the world if someone finds out about his secret.

I keep trying to tell myself that I don't want to fall for Edward. Even if I did, he wouldn't want me back. He doesn't exactly like me, or so it seems. I'll never forget the first day of school when I met him. Those harsh and cold, black eyes. A shiver went spiralling down my spine.

I stood up and walked over to the window, looking outside as the world began to gradually lighten up. I kneeled down in front of the window, putting my arms on the sill and resting my head on my arms.

I started humming a song from one of the CDs Phil had given to me. I couldn't remember who the band was, but I happened to really like them. I also couldn't remember what the song was called; only the tune was standing out to me at the moment.

The sound of me humming was the only sound I was hearing. It was droning out every other sound. Time seemed suspended as I kept thinking about Edward. He just did not want to leave my thoughts. The big secret that he was hiding was the main thing I was thinking about. Part of him wanted to tell me who he really was, but he couldn't. I knew this for a fact because of the way he acted around me.

I groaned aloud, which messed up my humming and made it sound all contorted. I was not accomplishing anything by sitting here and doing nothing. I did not have any homework, and I wanted to get out of my house. I couldn't get to school though, without Edward.

I huffed as I trudged down the stairs. I was fully dressed, and I pulled on my jacket and my boots. I was going to leave, whether I was allowed to or not. I couldn't stand another moment inside this house.

I walked into the kitchen and pulled open the drawer that contained random materials such as pens, pencils, paper, clips, and the small, Forks Phone Book. I pulled the yellow book out and began searching for 'Cullen.' As I traced my fingers down along the list I realized that Edward's father was a doctor. _Ah great, his name, address or phone number is not going to be in the book._

I was contemplating on whether or not to call up Charlie and ask him what the Doctor's number was when the phone rang.

I swivelled around on my heel, my boot making a squeaky noise on the floor. I stared at the phone in confusion. _Why doesn't the bloody whole town call me this morning?! _I made some sort of noise in my throat as I walked over to the phone and picked it up, answering sweetly, "hello?"

"Bella?" _Why is that my heart quickens up whenever I hear his voice? _

"Hi Edward," I tried not to answer enthusiastically, but failing miserably. I was in fact ecstatic that he called me at the precise moment. Somehow he knew when to save me. Even if it was in fact, from boredom.

That is a coincidence that he managed to call me at the exact time I was looking for his phone number.

"I realized I said see you at school when I left your house earlier," he chuckled dryly. "But I still have to drive you to school. You seemed ready to go when I last left you. Are you?"

"Yes I am ready. Just passing the time doing nothing…" _Idiot! I mentally yelled at myself. _

He laughed and cautiously asked, "Would you like me to come and pick you up? Even though it is still early?"

"Sure, why not. We'll just randomly drive around or something…" I murmured quietly. "Or just go to school." I finished the rest of my uncompleted sentence.

"Alright. I shall be over in a few minutes." Edward replied before hanging up.

I hung up the phone and ran up to my room to grab my bag, my boots thudding loudly on the stairs. I opened the door and walked over to the spot where my bag was on the floor. I shoved my books and everything else I needed for school into it, zipped it up and walked back downstairs.

I snatched the key off the hook, opened the door, closed it, and locked it. I inhaled a deep breath and sat down on the steps and waited. I don't know why I was so anxious to see Edward again. I just saw him about half an hour ago. I felt like a lovesick puppy! The way I rushed around the house to grab my bag and come out here and wait for him.

These feelings were indescribable as I thought about how I was reacting to Edward talking to me. Edward comforting me and talking to me, even though he loathed me the first month of school. I do not think I'll ever forget that agonizing month.

_Why was it agonizing Bella?_

I visibly stiffened and my eyes went doe-like. My mind proceeded to go blank as a thought went running through my head.

Could I actually be infatuated with Edward Cullen?

_No, no no…_I gasped loudly and started breathing heavily. Why was this happening to me?

_The real question is, why are you denying it?_

I was so afraid to answer that question.

Just answer, you know that it's true.

I'm in love with him. Undeniably so, unthinkably and unquestionably. I have been since I first saw him, and I never stopped. I didn't want to admit it; I didn't want to fall into his inescapable spell of love.

I sighed as my heart quenched with realization that he would never feel the same way. Never feel the tug at his heart when he looks at me, or when he sees the emotions flash through my eyes. I feel this tug because I love him. His noticeable precaution towards me, but yet his manner in which he opens up to me. I notice all this more perceptively because I am in love him.

There is no question about it. It is the truth that I cannot avoid any longer. The only solution that I can try to do is to ignore it, deal with it, or learn to not have these strong feelings towards him.

I gasped loudly as I saw the familiar silver Volvo that I used to hate come into view.

No way I can ignore him.

But I must try, for my own sake.

_What are you so afraid of?_

I'm afraid to get hurt. I'm petrified of him not returning the same feelings to me when I open my heart up to him. The way Charlie was heartbroken when mom left him those many years back. Mom always told me not to get married before I was thirty. That marriage left broken promises and broken hearts left in its wake.

My heart stopped for a brief second when Edward pulled up into the driveway, stepped out and smiled at me. I almost melted on the step as I tried to stand up.

I hoped my weakness was not obvious to him and that he would never notice it. I took a claming breath as I slowed down my heart and composed my face into its mask that hopefully portrayed nothing to Edward.

I walked carefully down the steps and over to the Volvo to where Edward was standing, for he had come over to my side and opened the door for me.

I nodded my head at him and said my thanks as I slipped into the car smoothly. I watched him walk gracefully back over to his side of the car and he caught me staring at him as he got into the car.

I swiftly tried to turn my head away but I knew I had been caught. A small blush crept its way onto my cheeks and I awkwardly cleared my throat and looked back over to Edward to see that he hadn't started the car yet. I frowned and looked at the keys in the ignition and then back to his perfect face.

He was smiling. An all too innocent smile that. I knew that he would not mention that I was staring at him but-

"Like what you see?" He asked.

My jaw dropped wide open, as the same blush deepened, making its way down to my neck. There could be no end point to humiliation. It seemed so out of character for Edward to ask that question. That's when I realized that he was doing it to make me even more humiliated.

I quickly closed my mouth as I glared at him and hissed, menacingly, "What's that supposed to mean?"

His eyes danced with humour as he replied lightly, "oh you know exactly what I mean." And he turned on the car and swiftly drove out of the driveway and onto the road.

I huffed, blowing my hair in the process, and scowled, the blush never leaving my face or neck.

"You know, you can stop blushing anytime now." Edward stated, a pleading edge to his voice. This statement did not help me at all because I proceeded to go even redder.

"That doesn't help." I spat out before swallowing nervously and taking clam, steady breaths to try and relieve myself of the never-ending blush.

He laughed sharply before questioning, "So you're not upset about this morning, at all?" He glanced over at me quickly, twice, awaiting my answer.

"No…surprisingly, I'm not. You'd think I would be right?" I scrunched my eyebrows and looked at Edward, biting down on my bottom lip.

"You'll chew your lip off if you do that." He grinned, flashing his blinding teeth at me. "I am very surprised. I thought you would have called the cops on me. It's not every day when someone is in your room…"

"No, definitely not every day something like that happens." I replied softly before continuing, "however, you said it was because you heard me screaming and you came to see if I was alright. I was not miffed by your presence because I have always been good at repressing unpleasant things." His face seemed hurt because I said 'unpleasant.' "It wasn't unpleasant after I realized it was just you."

Edward's eyes were sincere and happy that I had forgiven him. I was elated that he was not upset, thinking that I was upset.

We were at he school parking lot, and it was deserted, as expected. "Do you want to get out and chat?" Edward asked me, his eyes resumed back to its guarded wall. I sighed inwardly, before replying somewhat dejectedly, "yeah, sure," and I opened the door to get out.

I shut the door and walked to the front of the car, waiting for Edward. I turned around and saw that he was still sitting behind the steering wheel, looking confused. His topaz eyes were burning with confusion and it looked adorably cute.

I suppressed a smile and bent my head a little bit to fully see his bronze hair and look him in the eyes.

"What?" I mouthed out to him.

His frown deepened as he stepped out of the car, and strode over to me. Edward crossed his arms across his chest and pouted. He literally pouted. My eyes were going to bulge out of my head as I awaited an explanation.

After a minute without an explanation, I mimicked him and crossed my arms, pouting. A couple of minutes passed by and still nothing came. "Arg!" I yelled exasperated, that he wouldn't explain himself to me. "Why are you so cryptic? You're always hiding stuff from me and you won't ever tell me anything! You'll _do_ something, then you _won't give a reason for what you did!_" I realized that I was not fuming over that fact that he wouldn't tell me what he was upset about, but I was fuming about everything that had happened since I moved to Forks.

By now I was storming away over to the front of the school, not caring if he was behind me or not. I yanked open the doors and strode inside towards my locker. When I reached it, I opened it, threw my stuff in and slammed the door shut. I whirled around when I heard Edward's alluring voice, and glared angrily at him.

"Angry are we?" He asked, his eyes traced with humour, but his mouth was in a tight, thin line.

"Yes, I am angry! I'm angry at you because you are hiding something from me, and you won't tell me!" I replied, seething.

"Everyone has their secrets Bella." Edward barely whispered.

It stung that he didn't want to tell me, and I hoped he wouldn't notice. I hoped for a lot of things. "If you won't tell me, then why are you here? Why do you keep acting so strange around me? First you hate me, and then you want to be friends, or so I think, next you hide yourself from me. I can't be your friend if you won't tell me at least _something_." I finished my rant somewhat sadly.

I looked up at his eyes and saw they were mad. How could he possibly be mad at me?

"Bella. _I'm _the one who is hiding things? You are so different from everyone else. Your actions stun me and I cannot figure out what you do, the reason behind those actions." Edward stated, frustrated.

"_Me? _Did you just not hear what I just said?" I yelled at him.

"Yes Bella! I heard what you said!"

We were both breathing heavily and looking intently at each other. This fight was so pointless. If nothing was going to be revealed today, why were we here?

I parted my lips in an exasperated sigh and he leaned in forwards to me. I froze completely, thinking about the next move he was going to make. His lips were parted as well as he leaned in even closer and put his hand on the opposite side of my head against the locker. I leaned back until I hit the locker and he kept coming.

Just when I thought Edward couldn't get any closer I heard something vibrating. Edward sighed and removed himself from in front of me. I let out the breath I was holding and leaned my head against the locker.

I really, really hate phones.

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**So close, yet so far away.**

**Again, I want to apologize for the huge wait you guys had to wait for this chapter.**

**This is my longest chapter yet and I like it. **

**I do not know how long it will be again till I write the next chapter. I have exams coming up in two weeks and I need to start studying for them. **

**So don't get your hopes up to eagerly please! I know, I really want to keep writing. 30 reviews if you love me?**


	12. Abyss

**This chapter came out much quicker than the last one.  
I have my math exam next Tuesday, and then my chapters will be coming in much more quickly.**

**  
I also have my best friend betting for this story!**

**Let's welcome **_**Rachelle **_**she'll be around for as long as she wants to be.**

I also have a poll up in my profile, so go vote!

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When Edward answered his phone, I turned away from him and started walking down the hall. I briefly heard him say, "What?" in an agitated voice; then a soft, "Oh, thank you Alice."

I didn't understand the conversation, but it wasn't my right to. I had reached the end of the hallway when Edward walked up beside me. We strolled down the hallway without any intended destination.

I suddenly blurted out, glancing up at his face to see his answer, "What do you like to do?"

He frowned, giving me a questioning glance, "Pardon?"

"Question for question. I ask you something and you have to answer it, and then vice versa. So my first question for you is, what do you like to do in your spare time? Activity wise." I turned forward again to concentrate on my walking and to evaluate his answer when given.

Edward was quiet for a minute or so before he whispered, "I like to compose music and play the piano. Writing and playing music is what I like to do in my spare time." He had said this last part with increased confidence and volume. 

"Music…" I repeated softly. It definitely suited him.

"And you?" Edward asked, raising one eyebrow, looking down at me.

"Hmm…I like to read; preferably the classics. Modern-day reads are rather dull. I mean the Classics had to have been the best in history." I stopped myself, blushing, for I was rambling on again.

I tried to think of the perfect question to ask Edward; something that would allow me to break through the carefully composed barrier Edward constantly hid behind. I racked my brain for a brilliant question, but I couldn't think of anything.

"Why don't I ask the questions, you seem to be stumped," Edward smirked.

"Alright." I had a small feeling that I was going to regret it. He might ask me a question that I was not comfortable answering. I hoped for the best as he began.

"Why don't you like me?"

Yep, I instantly regretted this decision.

We had stopped at the end of the hallway and I decided that we should sit down. I was also debating whether or not to actually tell Edward the truth. It wasn't that I didn't like him. It was so much more, that was the problem and I didn't want to tell him for fear of him not returning the same feelings.

"Come on, let's sit down in the cafeteria," I sighed, avoiding Edward's question. I knew he wouldn't let me drop it though.

"Will you at least give me an answer as to why you don't like me?" Edward prodded.

I sat down at a random table and he sat facing me. This was going to be a lot harder than I had initially thought. How do you tell someone without really telling them?

I began by delaying my answer. I really did not want to tell Edward. "It's not that I don't like you…" In fact it's probably something much more.

"I just," I sighed, exasperated. "I don't understand you. I would _love_ to get to know you better, if you let _me_." There, I had said it, somewhat, by stressing out the 'love' part. I don't love him; I did like him though, a lot.

"Yes, I am terribly sorry for the way that I acted when we first met. It was unforgivable. I know that you don't understand why, and I know that you are frustrated by it. I would really like to get to know you better as well, Bella. Will you let _me_?"

Edward had finally spoken and he did not answer anything for me, but it was the most I was probably going to get. It seemed like he actually wanted to get to know me as well. "Yes, if you let me." I countered him, again.

He seemed to be getting a little frustrated with the lack of answers I was giving him. However, I was not going to be the first one to cave in. I will not be dazzled by his eyes or by his voice. I need to fight his alluring ways.

Edward let out an aggravated sigh, which caused me to bite my lip to keep from bursting out in laughter. I knew that I was frustrating him, and he was trying to get me to come clean first.

"Alright, let's make a compromise," Edward began, his gaze was aimed downwards, but he was looking up at me underneath his eyelashes. I arched one eyebrow, I was curious about his proposal.

"I can't tell you everything because, like I said before, I have my secrets. I know that you do as well, and I shall be fair about it. Let's do this question for question game, but it can't be questions we know we won't answer, that way we can learn a little bit more about one another. Does that appeal to you?" Edward finished off his speech with a little bit of excitement in his voice.

I thought about this carefully before I answered. Edward could be tactful and he might trick me into saying something I would regret. However, this was the best way for me to learn more about him. This might be my only chance to try and find out what Edward really thought of me.

"Yes."

Edward's eyes lit up immensely and he smiled his crooked grin, which made me return with a grin of my own.

"Shall I start?" Edward asked.

"You just asked the last question, remember?" I pointed out to him, and I saw his eyes widen in surprise.

"Right," Edward breathed softly, remembering he had asked why I didn't like him. He appeared to be shocked that I had remembered.

I almost rolled my eyes at him for doubting my intelligence. I was a smart kid; I just didn't point it out to everyone.

I assembled my thoughts and came up with an interesting question to ask Edward: "Why are you so secretive? I realize that this might be a question that you won't answer-"

"I have a family secret." Edward had interrupted me, but I was elated that he had answered me. My mind went into overdrive as I thought about what that family secret might be. A scandal, bad family history, previous scams…I weighed the options. It couldn't have been that bad, could it? I decided I would not ask any more questions concerning his secrecy, and instead I would focus on getting to know him.

"How smart are you Bella?" Edward asked, frowning. I guess he was still miffed by my perceptiveness and my curiosity.

I chuckled softly, smirking to myself before looking at Edward and catching his gaze, which happened to be a mistake. He was looking at me, with overwhelming curiosity brimming in his topaz eyes.

I immediately stopped breathing as my humour faded away. He really wanted to know everything about me.

I said in a soft voice, "I'm perceptive, which you've already noticed, and I am smart, I just don't like to show it. I'm a quiet person, usually. I love independence, and for some reason ever since I met you, I've taken to standing up for myself more often. Usually I just let people know what they want to know. I was really reluctant towards giving you information and I don't know why." I knew that I had answered a lot more than what he had asked me, but Edward needed some clarification.

"You're in the same position as me. You didn't want to tell me any of your secrets. Thank you though, for answering my question and so many more." Edward seemed genuinely pleased that I had told him that. 

I wondered what he would have said if I had told him the rest.

"How about this. We share with each other our life story, as much as we feel comfortable revealing, and then afterwards, we can ask questions. How does that sound?" I suggested to Edward, tilting my head to the side.

Edward seemed pensive for a little while before answering. "Sounds good," he responded.

"Okay, I'll go first." With that, I jumped back all the way to my birth. "I was born in Phoenix, and I grew up with my mother. I already told you about her and how she eventually married Phil. My mom left Charlie because she couldn't stand being cooped up here in rainy Forks. Throughout my childhood, my mom was my best friend. I was always the more responsible one; I made sure that everything was always okay and I took care of us both.

At my old high school I didn't have that many friends, maybe one or two at the most. I didn't like that many kids from that school. It was too big, and I was so out of place. I was not a volleyball player and I wasn't tanned. You know the reason why I moved to Forks, and here I am now, sitting with you at this table."

Edward seemed to take in all of the information slowly. I was beginning to wonder if I had said something offensive towards him, but then he finally spoke.

"You are definitely unlike any other girl I've ever met. Don't get me wrong, I like it." Edward said this last part because he had noticed my facial features express a sudden pain.

"I was born in Chicago on June 20th, with my mother, Elizabeth Masen, and my father, Edward Masen Senior." His face contorted a little bit, trying to remember his childhood. "I played the piano and I was a very gifted student. My mother was so proud of me. I played a little bit of baseball, but not much. My father was a lawyer; therefore he was found more frequently at work than at home. Whenever he was home, I spent as much time as possible with him.

When I was ten years old, my parents were in an accident, and they were both killed instantly. My uncle, Carlisle, and his wife, Esme, decided to take me in. I was the first into the family. Rosalie came next, and then Emmett, followed by Alice and Jasper, who came together. All of our parents had been killed in accidents. We have all been together as one family for quite some time now. I am very happy with them, Carlisle and Esme are wonderful parents." Edward's face shined when he mentioned them; he seemed so at peace. I longed to know what it was that haunted his perfect face most of the time.

We sat there staring at one another, taking in all of this new information that we had just learned about the other. It seemed like I understood Edward a lot better, now that he had told me a little bit about his past. There was, of course, still the family secret that I would hopefully, one day, find out.

"Trivial questions now?" I asked Edward, raising my eyebrows. He chuckled, "Of course."

"You go first this time, I told my life story first," I reasoned, and he had no choice but to comply.

"Favourite colour?" Edward shot at me.

And so it went on like this for the rest of the morning. We would ask questions that were fun to answer and some that were harder to respond to. He asked me everything from my favourite book to my favourite flower and gemstone. He also asked a few harder questions about my personality and what I was like back with my mom.

It seemed that we were starting to fully understand one another now, and I hoped that were finally friends.

The school was starting to fill up with students and some people mingled together into the cafeteria and were stunned to see Edward and I just chatting at a table. People also tried to get closer to our table to eavesdrop on our conversation. Edward and I just laughed, got up, and walked away. It wouldn't be long before the bell would ring.

"I shall see you at lunchtime then Bella," Edward called out. He had made lunch plans without my input. I knew that I would be sitting with him anyways, but it would be fun to tease him.

"And what makes you think I will sit with you at lunch?" I pretended to act stern by placing my hands on my hips and trying to show no amusement, but to no avail. I immediately started smiling and Edward caught me.

"That's how I know you will sit with me," Edward pointed to my mouth, laughed, and walked away as soon as the ball rang.

I smiled to myself and proceeded to my locker. I grabbed my books and headed to class.

At lunchtime, I walked out of my classroom and headed towards my locker to put my books away, when I noticed Edward was leaning against it, waiting for me.

I smiled and hurried my pace in order to get to him more quickly. I wondered just how much had changed since this morning. I understood Edward a lot more now, but I still shouldn't get too close, I reminded myself.

"Hello." I said pleasantly, without showing my eagerness.

Edward nodded his head and we walked side by side into the cafeteria after I put my books away.

After obtaining our food from the server, we went to the same table we were at yesterday, to find Alice already sitting there with a tray of food.

"Hi Bella!" Alice smiled and waved enthusiastically.

I returned the gesture and sat down beside her, Edward sat across from us.

"How was your morning?" Alice asked me. "Mine was good. Edward and I spent it talking to each other and learning little facts about each other's lives. It was quite interesting, I must say. Did you know that Edward detests the colour black?" I teased.

Both Edward and Alice laughed; it was really nice to hear. I enjoyed their company. It was a nice change from sitting with Jessica and her group for the past two months.

"So Bella, are you excited for the masquerade dance next weekend?" Alice asked, her eyes twinkling with mischief.

"Not particularly, I still can't believe you tricked me into going! And having Edward take me to Seattle this Saturday!" I faked my annoyance, but she didn't buy it.

Alice tapped her head, insinuating that nothing gets by her, "Bella, you haven't fooled me yet. I know that you are excited for both trips and you _will _go and you _will_ have fun!"

I blushed, wishing she hadn't seen right through me. I was more than a little bit excited for the Seattle trip. However, I wasn't as anxiously awaiting the dance.

"Is your whole family going?" I asked Alice and Edward, looking at both of them.

"Yes," Alice replied, nodding her head.

"Wow, I can't wait to see what you and Rosalie will look like in your dresses, I'm sure you will both look even more stunning than usual." I glanced over to where Rosalie, Emmett and Jasper were sitting, and saw that Rosalie's hard scowl had softened up a little bit. I looked back at Alice and blushed because her face was so compassionate.

"Thank you Bella. You'll look beautiful too." I smiled briefly, not believing that statement, but not saying anything more on the subject.

We discussed small topics concerning the dance and the events to come. Alice was hoping to go shopping with her sister soon, in search of the perfect dress and mask. Edward, however, was not looking forward to finding a tuxedo and a mask, but Alice insisted, and Edward could not say no.

I was happy here, sitting with them, but I wondered just how long will it be before I get my heart broken, as a result of the dark abyss of romance I was falling into.

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**Well, until next time!**

Review please!  



	13. Discoveries

**I have news!**

**They have picked many people for the movie; you should go check out who is being cast at **_**Twilight Lexicon**_

**A release date for **_**Breaking Dawn!**_** It is August 2, 2008.**

**The **_**Host**_** is also going to be released in May.**

**And without further ado, here is the chapter.**

**Once again, thanks to **_**Rachelle**_**, for taking the time out of her busy schedule to edit it for me.**

**I do not own Twilight it belongs to Stephanie Meyer**

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My heart clenched as that thought went racing through my head. I did not want to admit it yet, but I knew that I was coming close to a conclusion. I wouldn't say it yet though, I would try and ignore it, if it would just go away.

I can't make it go away; it's unavoidable, no matter how hard I try.

That small tugging at my heart whenever I brought up the thought was becoming extremely hard to ignore. My heart was beginning to overcome, and overthrow what my mind was saying.

Lunchtime was over shortly after, and Edward and I made our way over to biology.

We ended up being the first ones in the room, so we just sat and waited for the rest of the classroom to fill up and for the teacher to arrive.

"Is everything alright Bella? You seemed unusually quiet at lunch today," Edward asked, concerned for me.

I almost cringed. _Was it that noticeable?_

"Ah, no, everything's fine Edward." I smiled weakly at him and swallowed nervously, playing with the edges of my notebook. I took a deep breath to try and steady my heartbeat. I felt like it was giving away my lies.

"You are lying," Edward stated.

_  
How does he do that?_

"What makes you say that?" I asked, trying to counter him. I had to have done that numerous times now. Edward was also very perceptive and he seemed keen on deciphering my emotions and thoughts.

"Well, for one, you are very quiet. Normally you have something witty to say about a comment of mine, or towards my actions," Edward responded. Raising his eyebrows he said, "Tell me that isn't true?"

I glared at him and retorted, "Very funny. I can't help being so sarcastic."

"I know, and that's what makes it all the more enjoyable," Edward teased, smiling.

I blushed slightly and flipped open my notebook to doodle. The second my notebook was open I immediately snapped it shut. I was blushing profusely, and I scowled.

I glanced up underneath my eyelashes to see Edward look taken aback, this only deepened the red colour in my cheeks.

"Why the sudden emotion change?" Edward asked, now truly curious.

"You didn't see my notebook, did you?" My blush deepened even more, I honestly didn't think that my humiliation could go any further.

"No, I did not, is there something I should see?" Edward asked, clearly confused.

I sighed in relief and my blush left my cheeks, letting my natural paleness take over once again. I quickly thought up an excuse and replied, "Messy handwriting, you honestly wouldn't think I would have such bad handwriting!" I lied as best as I could and wished for this time to be one of the special moments where my lies are accepted.

Edward and I were quiet for the rest of the time when the students and the teacher were coming into the classroom. I was grateful; Edward didn't further pursue me to explain.

Mr. Banner spoke, "Okay, open your books and copy the note off of the board."

The glass all groaned in unison, but Edward and I just complied, readying ourselves.

I carefully held the book away from Edward and I scratched out his name that was written a couple of times on the top of the first page in my notebook. I couldn't believe that I had done that. I closed my eyes and sighed heavily. My body was traitorous, and it was going against my mind. I was acting upon instinct, and I was not thinking about my actions.

I must have written Edward's name in my notebook in the last couple of days…

_Or was it long before that?_

I cringed in my seat; which caused me to scrawl off of the page with my pen and onto the desk, making a screeching sound.

I froze as a couple of people turned their heads around to look at me questioningly. I blushed and peered over at Edward. He looked even more confused. I had to bite my lip to keep from bursting out in laughter.

Edward's eyes widened even more when he saw my sudden mood change, for the third time. I immediately covered up my laugh by coughing into my fist.

"Alright there Bella?" Mr. Banner asked me carefully.

"Yes," I croaked, my voice sounding like a frog.

"Edward, take her to the nurse or something, she is not well," Mr. Banner stated, waving his arm for us to leave.

Edward and I packed up our things and proceeded out the door, and when it was safely shut, I started laughing, unable to contain it any longer.

I leaned my head back against nearby lockers and covered my face with my hands. Once I had calmed myself down, I peered through my fingers like a little kid watching a horror movie, looking to see Edward aghast and staring at me with the strangest expression on his face.

"I'm sorry, I haven't had a good laugh like that in a long time." I answered Edward's unasked question, my face growing sober, "Ever since I moved here, I've been so unhappy. But I am slowly gaining my happiness back, thanks to you for being a friend to me." I smiled at Edward and turned to walk down the hall.

Edward fell in step beside me as I gradually became quiet. "So do you want to tell me what that was all about?"

"Naw," I shook my head.

"Oh come on, your laughter was an improvement compared to your previous state of silence, even if you were laughing insanely…" Edward trailed off, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Ha ha," I matched his sarcasm.

"I don't know," I answered truthfully. "You saw that I was thinking about something, and my emotions and facial expressions kept changing drastically, but you didn't know why. It was hilarious to see you get so angry because you couldn't read me."

I stole a glance at Edward and saw that he was flabbergasted. "And again, I've rendered you speechless."

Edward was quiet for a couple of minutes as we made our way down the hall to the nurse's office.

"You're actions stun me," Edward confessed, his quiet voice surprised me.

"I know," I answered quietly in return.

"Do you want to leave?" Edward asked, a questioning expression on his face.

I blinked at him curiously, "Leave as in…"

"The school," Edward finished my sentence.

I started to panic slightly; I had never skipped school before. I was a little sceptical as to why Edward wanted to leave school. "Why?" My eyes narrowed and my eyebrows furrowed.

"Well…we aren't really doing anything, and I just don't feel like school at this particular moment. How about you?" Edward was looking intently at me, one hundred percent serious.

I blinked once before answering, "Okay…"

"Great, let's go sign out at the front office." Edward grabbed my hand and pulled me into the office and pushed me down into the nearby chair. I felt like I was pretending to be sick.

"Ms. Cope, Bella Swan here has an appointment and I am the only method of transportation for her. May we please be excused for the rest of the day?" Edward asked sincerely, probably dazzling the poor secretary in the process. Ms. Cope glanced over at me briefly, then answered Edward with a cheery smile, "Alright then dears, you are free to leave."

As Edward and I got up to leave, he held the door open as we walked out. As soon as we were outside, I turned to him and put my hands on my hips, narrowing my eyes at him. "You just had to make the poor woman distressed, huh?" I asked him, walking away.

"What are you talking about?" Edward caught up with me as he put his hands into his jacket pockets.

The wind was starting to pick up as it threatened to thrash my hair around my face; I quickly pulled the hood of my sweater over my head. "Well, for starters, lying, and then flustering her!" I protested walking more quickly now.

"What do you mean?" Edward asked again, opening the door of his car to grant me safety from the blistering winds.

Once he was in the car as well and had started up the engine, I proceeded to tell him. "I don't really care about you lying to her and all of that, but the woman is going to have a heart attack with the way you talked to her. I mean, isn't it obvious, you're good looking, a great student, you're everything a woman would want-" I immediately stopped talking and looked out the window, squeezing my eyes shut and biting down on my lip, hard.

I decided that I might as well finish my point, "And therefore, she thinks she could get you, and you weren't helping the situation by dazzling her!" My voice had risen a bit in volume and my heart was beating loudly in my chest with the steady _thump, thump, thump_. I took a deep breath and put my hand over my heart to try and calm myself down.

I stole a glance at Edward and found that he was stunned. I had sublimed him into overwhelming shock, once again. It wasn't long before he burst out laughing; I was surprised the car didn't swerve.

"It's not funny!" I blurted out, trying to get Edward to stop laughing by being angry with him. It didn't work; this only made him laugh harder.

"Thank you Bella, I haven't had a good laugh like that either in a long time." He chuckled again, shaking his head.

"You really do have different mood changes, why?" Edward asked. He didn't seem to stop asking me questions today.

I might as well tell him the truth.

"I don't know, I already told you that I was acting differently around you. Example: being more bold, and now, am I happier? I don't know. I think it's because I have made a discovery. It's a pretty big discovery that will have a huge impact on my life. I can't do anything to stop it; no matter how hard I try." When I had finished telling Edward about my discovery, my voice had grown to barely a whisper.

"Is this discovery a good thing or a bad thing?" Edward's voice was also soft.

"I don't know," I replied truthfully. "It could end badly for me if…"

I tried to think of the best way to say it, without giving it away.

"If?" Edward prodded me on.

"If the thoughts aren't the same." I knew that it would make no sense to Edward but-

"I know what you mean," Edward surprised me by answering that he understood. My statement didn't even make much sense to me!

"You do?" I looked at Edward, his face held sorrow as he watched his driving.

"Yes, I do. You think one thing, and then other people hate you for it, or get angry with you. You don't know what to do because you just can't help yourself with the thoughts you have. Fights, name calling, threats are given and you are confused, and left with only three people to give you guidance." I realized that when Edward was speaking, we weren't talking about me anymore.

I was confused, but I didn't bother prodding him for any more information. I knew that when the time came, Edward would tell me. For now, we would both remain immune to each other's secrets, but we played with fate as we gave clues and hints to the secrets.

I wondered what Edward's secret would actually be. Would it be anywhere near as big as my secret?

The silence that followed afterwards grew uncomfortable, so I decided to ask a light question, "What are we going to do for the rest of the day?"

Edward took a deep breath and contemplated for a few moments before answering, "We could go to my house."

I held back the surprise that flickered across my face and replied hesitantly, "Okay…"

"You don't have to if you don't want to," Edward shook his head as he looked at me.

"No!" I answered too quickly. "I don't mind…"

We drove in silence for the rest of the way to his house. I realized that I had gone past his house numerous times before. I looked closely, and I saw the long, narrow driveway that was a ways into the forest. I had never noticed this small road before.

When the house came into view, I gasped inaudibly; or so I thought. Edward had heard me and looked at me to gauge my reaction. I answered his unasked questions by whispering, "It's beautiful."

The exterior of the house was gorgeous with the white colours and the friendly air around it. The garden at the front was covered with all types of flowers and the front porch was simple and it invited me to walk up the steps.

I was walking ahead of Edward and I reached up to touch the walls of the house. There was just something mysterious about it that was drawing me in. I realized that Edward was still standing at the car, staring at me.

I blushed and stepped aside as Edward came up the steps and opened the door. He motioned for me to enter, and as I did, I was even more stunned.

The inside was even more beautiful than the outside. The elegant staircase off to the left winded up the mysterious floors above, and off to the right was the main living room where I saw a young woman reading a book. She looked up at my eyes.

Like Edward, she also had bright topaz eyes, but her eyes were so warm and loving. She truly looked like a loving mother who cared about her children and cared for the house as well. She stood up and started walking over to me.

"You have a beautiful home," I complimented, gesturing with my arms and twirling around for more emphasis.

If I thought she looked so beautiful before, I was wrong. Her long brown hair, her eyes, and smile seemed to light up the whole room at my compliment. "Thank you," She replied. "My name is Esme Cullen, and I am Edward's mother."

She held her hand out for me and I returned the gesture. "My name is Isabella Swan, but I prefer Bella please," I told her while smiling.

Esme put her other hand over mine and said, "Bella it is. I've heard so much about you." She smiled and winked at me, and turned to face Edward. I blushed and gave them privacy as Esme started scolding Edward.

"And why, Edward, are you not in school at this hour?" Esme asked him. 

Just as Edward was about to answer, I chose to defend him, "Oh Mrs. Cullen-"

She interrupted me politely, "Oh please, call me Esme. Mrs. Cullen makes me feel older than I already am." I nodded and she said, "Sorry, continue."

By now she had let go of my hands and went over to stand by Edward, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"The teacher told me to leave the room because he thought I was sick, so Edward took me and we left. I hope you don't mind, because Edward offered to come back here."

Esme's somewhat angry facial expression, if you could even call it angry, left and her eyes softened. "It's not a problem Bella, don't worry about it."

I nodded my head and looked around the room as Esme and Edward started talking. I walked into the room and saw the plasma TV, the leather couches, the rug, and the coffee table that matched perfectly. There were some magazines, books, and pictures on the shelves and the walls. I also noticed in the corner that there was a grand piano.

I strode over to the piano and softly touched it. I remembered my mom playing the piano back in Phoenix. A couple of easy to play songs started humming inside my head. I closed my eyes as I sat down on the piano bench and pressed a finger to the keys.

I started playing a soft tune that I could remember my mom playing before she had met Phil when she would be upset over a break-up. It was a sad song and I remembered the notes perfectly. I also remembered going to piano lessons when I was a kid and mom would have me practice hours on end.

As I finished the short tune, I opened my eyes and turned around to see both Edward and Esme watching me. I lowered my head as I blushed and stood up quickly mumbling an incoherent apology.

"That's fine Bella, it was such a sad tune, but you know it well," Esme complimented me. Then she said, "Well, I would like to finish this book, I am just near the end, so I shall leave you two alone. It was lovely to meet you Bella." Esme picked up her book and walked gracefully out of the room and upstairs.

"I didn't know you played the piano," Edward stated as he came over and motioned for me to move over so he could sit down.

I laughed lightly as I replied, "Not well, only a couple of soft and short songs, that's about it. Is this piano yours?" I asked the question this time, truly curious.

Edward smiled softly and said, "Yes it is. I am very fond of playing, composing, and listening to music."

"Composing?" I questioned, my eyes bulging out of my head. 

He chuckled and answered, "Yes Bella, how do you think we hear music everyday?"

I scowled and crossed my arms. "Well play something for me then, something you have composed."

Edward looked at me, and placed his hands on the keyboard, his eyes never leaving my face. A sweet tune started to flood the room and I gasped quietly; it was so beautiful.

Edward continued to play the song for a long time. It had a soft tune, but it was so warm. It reminded me a lot of what Esme was like. I pointed this out to him and he laughed. I frowned and then he answered, "I wrote this song to describe her."

By now he was grinning and I couldn't help but grin back at him. "You should smile more often," Edward stated. "It really makes you look happy."

We stared at each other for a minute or so in a comfortable silence, nothing needed to be said. After a while, Edward said, "Would you like a tour?"

I nodded my head as we both got up and Edward led me to the second floor.

I followed slowly behind him, taking in every detail that was around me. The upstairs hallway had many different doors that led into each of the sibling's rooms. Edward of course didn't show me them, but he said he would show me his room. I had to admit, I was a little bit excited. A person's bedroom really told a lot about them.

Edward's room was on the third floor, and as I was walking up the stairs to the floor, I noticed a wooden cross. It looked to be very old. Edward saw me looking and answered my unasked questions. "It's over 300 years old." My eyes bulged out of my head for the second time.

"It has been passed down for many generations in Carlisle's family," Edward told me.

"Wow…" I breathed.

I turned away from the cross and walked after Edward as he opened the door that led into his room.

Oh yeah, his room matched his personality.

His room was a dark colour, and there was a black leather couch off to the right side. I frowned when I saw that there wasn't a bed.

"Why is there no bed?" I asked Edward, glancing over to him where he was doing something with the stereo.

It was then I realized that his whole wall was covered in CDs and there was a huge stereo system. My mouth fell open; he wasn't lying when he said he loved music. I turned around to face the other wall and there were a couple of shelves that held random objects and books. There were two doors that I assumed were the bathroom and the closet.

The last wall wasn't in fact a wall at all. It was a huge glass window that faced the backyard. I walked over to the window and looked outside. It was pretty seeing the trees and looking out into the forest.

Once I was done looking around his room, Edward finally remembered my question, "It's a pull out bed, and the duvet is in the closet, packed away." He pointed to the second door.

"Ah. You have a very nice room, it suits you well," I nodded my head to Edward and he replied with a thank you.

"So Mr. Music Man, show me your stuff: your favourite artists, bands, songs and CDs. The whole thing; I want to hear everything." I sat down on his couch with a 'huff' as I made myself comfortable and prepared myself to discover Edward's taste in music.

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**Sorry it took so long for this chapter to come!**

**Please, please send me a review! I really want to know what you guys think of the story. How am I staying in character? Description? Writing skills? I want to know everything you guys as readers think! **

**I also know that there are over 100 alerts for this story, so please do not be afraid to give me a review!**

**This chapter will be confusing, this I know. It will be explained later in the story.**

**Until next time…**


	14. Questions

**I updated a lot quicker than last time! I'm proud of myself. **

**Thanks to **_**Rachelle**_** for editing, again.**

**I have yet **_**another**_** story that I have started with a friend of mine. It's called "L'Arte di Furto." Please go check it out if you wish. **

**It's about Bella's father getting arrested and the money to release him is 300,000 Euros, and Bella must learn 'The Art of Thievery' from a certain Edward Cullen. (Set in the 1930's).**

**I do not own Twilight it belongs to Stephanie Meyer**

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Edward looked at me for a second before walking over to the stereo. "Close your eyes," he commanded.

"Is this necessary?" I asked him, tilting my head to the side.

"You are the one who wanted to know what type of music I like," Edward protested.

I huffed before grumbling something unintelligible and closing my eyes. I waited for Edward to play the music, and when it didn't come after a minute, I opened my eyes to find him staring at me. He quickly turned around and then looked at me again to make sure my eyes were closed.

I closed them again and then an unrecognizable tune poured out of the speakers and I scrunched up my face in confusion, trying to figure out what the song was.

When the chorus came, I smiled, realizing that I did indeed know this song. I laughed and started mouthing the words before Edward changed the song in the middle of the chorus.

"Hey!" I protested.

"You know it," Edward countered.

"Yeah, so? The Beatles are classic, we have to listen to it." I was fighting a losing battle, with my eyes closed.

"Yes they are, but we'll never get through any of the music if we listen to each and every song."

He was right, and he knew it.

"Fine," I nodded my head. "Next."

We continued like this for about half an hour. Edward liked a variety of music, from anything old to some modern day music. He was a big fan of the fifties and the sixties.

"The seventies and the eighties were okay, but were not the greatest," Edward shivered slightly.

I laughed out loud, "You sound like you've actually been around during those time periods!"

Edward's eyes widened slightly before he composed himself and said shakily, "Obviously I have not been around, but we still listen to the music of that time right?"

"Yes, we do," I agreed.

"Now close your eyes again," Edward commanded, and I had no choice but to comply.

I waited for the music to come out of the speakers again. This time it was actually a song I didn't know. I had known every other song Edward had played and he seemed really shocked by it. The song currently playing was a sad one, and it bothered me that I hadn't heard it before.

The song finished and I opened my eyes slowly and asked Edward what it was, but he ignored me.

"I finally found a song that you didn't know!" He seemed to be pretty pleased with his accomplishment.

"Well I'm sure that we didn't even listen to half of your collection," I indicated to the wall. "You probably would have eventually found a song I didn't know. Now, what was the song that just played?" I asked Edward.

Edward grabbed a CD case off of the wall and walked over to me. He sat down beside me on the couch and handed me the CD. I laughed immediately when I saw it.

Turns out it was "I Can't Stand the Rain" by Tina Turner.

I laughed hysterically for about five minutes before I finally settled down. The song suited Forks really well. I asked him why her, and he responded with, "She's a legend, and she had great music. I do not discriminate against gender." He teased me a little bit at the end of his statement.

I rolled my eyes and stood up to put the CD back in its proper spot that Edward had pulled it from.

Edward came over to me and carefully grabbed the CD from my hands, as our eyes locked. He put the CD back in the spot and we were still looking at each other. Time seemed suspended as we gazed into each other's eyes.

Edward's eyes reflected less sadness than usual. Normally they were filled with a pain that seemed to rage within him. He never seemed to find peace with himself, and it seemed like he blamed himself for everything.

I sighed, he was so beautiful, both outside and inside. His facial features were perfect and flawless. He was a great person, but he was so guarded. Edward needed to let loose a little bit more.

I somehow managed to turn away from him and I headed towards the door. I whispered softly, "I have to get home, Charlie needs me tonight."

I opened the door and I felt Edward's presence behind me as he followed me down the stairs.

Esme was currently walking down the hallway from the kitchen towards Edward and I.

"Are you leaving now Bella?" she asked me.

I nodded, "Charlie needs me to cook tonight." I smiled; Charlie's lack of cooking skills never ceased to amaze me.

"It was lovely to meet you dear, you're welcome back anytime," Esme smiled, and I did so in return.

"Thank you, it was wonderful to meet you as well," I replied.

Edward opened the front door for me and I then followed him outside to his awaiting Volvo.

We reached the car at the same time and proceeded to get in. Once inside, we were still very quiet. It was starting to bug me, but I did not know how to break the wall.

"Say something," Edward whispered quietly.

My eyes widened as I whipped my head to look at him. "What do you want me to say?" I asked him.

"Anything." Edward sighed in frustration for a reason I did not know. "I want to know what you are thinking, but I don't and it's aggravating me."

"Why don't you just ask me what you want to know?" I wondered aloud.

"And you would tell me?" Edward questioned, raising his eyebrows.

"Well, it all depends on what the question is, but yes I will tell you. You seem really distressed by something," I told him truthfully.

He let out yet another sigh before rambling, "I don't understand what this feeling is. I am going to be truthful with you. I am scared of what the feeling is, but you're so interesting, I cannot leave you alone; I don't know if I want to. What is this feeling? It's a connection of some sort that I cannot distinguish."

By now, we had arrived back at my house, and I looked at Edward before opening the door and then turning my head back at him to answer, "If you figure out what the feeling is, it's returned," I stepped out of the car, shut the door and made sure to not look back at Edward, for fear of breaking down.

The next sound I heard surprised me as the thud of the car door slamming resounded across the open field. I turned around slowly to find Edward standing on the bottom step, and making his way up to me.

My heart started thudding inside my chest as my breathing became laboured, and I couldn't think clearly as our eyes locked together. I swallowed nervously as Edward came to stand in front of me on the step below me. Even though he was lower than me, he was tall enough that we were now the same height.

It started to drizzle lightly, and I blinked away the raindrops that had gathered on my eyelashes.

I was literally petrified of what Edward was going to say or do. It got worse when he lifted his hands up and placed them on my cheeks. He was also breathing very heavily and deeply.

His eyes seemed to be fighting a battle within him, as he said to me, "Are you serious?"

I almost frowned but then remembered what I had said to him in the car. "If it's what I think it is, then yes," I replied to him.

Edward stared at me for a couple minutes more before grabbing me and giving me a soft hug and then sprinted back to his car and drove off.

I was in a dazed state after his hug. I didn't move for about five minutes before I remembered that I had to go down to see Charlie and his friend, Billy. I could still feel his arms that had wrapped around me and crushed my body against the planes of his.

I turned and walked inside the house to grab my purse and make a quick trip to the supermarket. I should probably make something decent for them because Billy got hurt and comfort food is the best way to go.

I knew that I still wasn't supposed to be driving my truck, but it would be rude of me to ask Edward to drive me all the way to La Push. I got in my car and started up the engine, which gave me quite a fright. I laughed and turned the truck around and drove off to the store.

Once at the store I got some basic ingredients for Shrimp Alfredo. It was a simple meal, but delicious in the end. 

I thought back to what Charlie had told me about the directions earlier this morning and drove down to La Push.

It took me a while to get down there because I hadn't been down here in a long time.

When I finally reached the house that had a cruiser parked in the driveway, and looked up, I met a kid who was standing on the porch. He must have seen me coming down the road and expected it was I.

I was not exactly sure who the kid was; he did not look familiar to me. He had russet skin colour and he looked to be younger than me. He had black shaggy hair and he still had his young-looking features. I got out of the car with the bag of ingredients and walked up to the porch. At the bottom of the steps I looked up to the kid and clarified it was the Black residence, "Is Charlie here helping Billy?"

The kid's features softened up a little bit and confirmed it was his house. He also introduced himself as Jacob Black, Billy's son.

We shook hands, but for some reason I still did not remember him. I frowned, and he must have read my mind that I didn't remember him.

"You probably remember my sisters, they were more around your age. I was just a small kid back then," Jacob smiled sheepishly. 

I vaguely remembered him, but I definitely recalled his sisters.

I nodded as Jacob then led me into the house and I saw Charlie and Billy sitting in the living room, watching TV.

The house was old and small, but it was homey. It suited the Black family and I smiled. I walked over to Charlie and greeted both him and Billy.

"I hope you feel better soon Billy," I said to him.

"Thanks Bella. Wow, it has been a while since I've seen you, huh? You've grown up." Billy laughed and then returned his attention back to the TV.

I blushed briefly before announcing that I was going to go start making supper.

"What are you making Bella?" Charlie asked me, before I had a chance to walk behind the green couch and into the doorway. 

I laughed before saying, "It's a surprise. I'm sure you'll like it, don't worry."

I made my way into the kitchen and turned on the light before setting the bag onto the counter. I washed my hands in the sink and then dried them on the towel hanging off of the stove.

Jacob had followed me into the kitchen and was leaning against the door jam, watching me intently. I could feel a blush rising up onto my checks, but I refused to show him. I didn't look at him, but instead busied myself with prepping for making the pasta.

I grabbed a big pot, and a smaller pot out of the cupboard, and the pasta and sauce from the bag. I started boiling the water, and mixing up the sauce.

It wasn't until 5 minutes later that Jacob finally started talking. I was in the middle of frying the shrimp in a pan and he startled me, almost causing me to drop the pan onto the floor. Thankfully, he didn't notice.

"How are you liking Forks so far?" Jacob asked me. Charlie must have told him that I just recently moved here to live with him. 

I shrugged my shoulder indifferently, "It's not bad; really wet and cold though. School's fine, I've made some new friends." 

"Who are you friends with?" Jacob asked again.

I was able to leave the pots and pan unattended so I turned around and leaned myself against the countertop. "Um…Angela Webber, Jessica Stanley, Mike Newton," I debated whether or not to tell him about the Cullens, "And the Cullens, sort of."

Jacob frowned, "As in Doctor Carlisle Cullens children?" he asked me.

I nodded my head, "Edward and Alice are sort of my friends." 

"Do you hang out with them a lot?"

I shrugged again, "Not outside of school, but this weekend I am going shopping with Edward in Seattle."

It became quiet for a couple of minutes again, and I turned around to tend to the boiling pasta that was threatening to overflow. I stirred the pasta, and flipped the shrimp before going over to the microwave to take out the heated sauce.

"How old are you Jacob?" I asked him.

I glanced at him while I was taking out four plates and glasses, and cutlery from the cupboards and setting them on the table. He helped me and replied, "15 years old."

"You look older," I complimented him.

Jacob blushed and then took over setting the table for me while I drained the water from the pasta, fished out the shrimp from the pan, and put the sauce into a bowl with a spoon. I carried the pasta over in a bowl to the plates and set the bowl of sauce on the table, along with the bowl of shrimp and pasta.

"Come and eat," I called out to the living room. 

Once everyone was in the kitchen, I asked what they wanted to drink and grabbed their drinks for them.

I sat down at the table on one end, Billy at the other, Charlie and Jacob on either side of us.

Jacob and I ate mostly in silence, while Charlie and Billy talked about sports.

I folded my leg underneath my other leg, which caused me to brush against Jacob's calf. "Sorry," I murmured.

I didn't even notice the blush that appeared on his face.

I ate slowly, while the men ate fast. I laughed in my head at the sight. They must really enjoy my food.

"Great supper Bella," Charlie voiced my thoughts and rubbed his full belly.

Billy and Jacob also agreed, and Billy said an extra thank you for coming over to feed him since he fell out of his chair.

"It was no problem," I shook my head.

Jacob helped me clear the table and began washing the dishes while I dried them.

"So the Cullens, huh?"

I stared blankly at him, _had this thought been bothering him since I told him?_

"Is there something wrong with the Cullens?" I asked Jacob. 

"Well…" Jacob faltered on whatever he was going to tell me.

My heart started thudding inside my chest.

_Did Jacob know the family secret? The secret that keeping me up at night, pondering over what it could possibly be?_

"Yes…?" I tried to pry Jacob into telling me.

"There's nothing really wrong with them. They are just so different. There is something not normal about them, but I shouldn't tell you," Jacob quickly tried to change the subject.

Before I could protest and beg him to tell me, Charlie had called me from the front hallway, saying it was time to go.

I silently cursed inside my head as I gathered the leftover ingredients and made my way to the door.

I pulled on my boots and walked out the door behind Charlie. We both waved goodbye to Billy and Jacob, who where in the doorway of the house. Jacob holding onto Billy's wheelchair as Billy sat in it.

I made my way over to the car in a daze as I thought about what Jacob had just said.

_There is something not normal about them, something not normal, not normal…_

These words kept replaying over and over inside my head as I faintly heard Charlie call out saying he would meet me at home.

I had always known that something was different about them, but how bad could this something really be?

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	15. Wrath

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**Hello there!**

**Once, again, I am sorry for the much-anticipated wait for this chapter. I went away to Florida for March Break (which was so much fun! It was so warm, and I already miss the warm weather).**

**School decided to be mean to me and throw me tons of assignments. **

**Please read and review. Let me know if you are still here!**

**Thanks to **_**Rachelle **_**for editing.**

**Personally, I really, really love this chapter, even though there is barely any dialogue. **

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I drove home in my red truck with the music blaring. It was on some station that played their music so loud your poor eardrums would pop. I was doing this because I really did not want to think at the moment.

The prospect, or even the thought of Edward and his family being something not normal wasn't extremely surprising. 

I mean, they were different, you could tell. The way they flowed with gracefulness, even the boys. The way they talked without error, and the way they looked. The Cullens were flawless, absolutely perfect without a single hint of treachery within them. 

_  
Or so it seemed._

The family secret Edward had briefly mentioned to me was invading every thought I had. I was itching to find out what the mysterious secret could be. I wanted to scream at him to tell me what it was, but I made a promise with him. We would only tell our secrets if we wanted to. 

There was absolutely no way that I was going to be caving in first. I would never tell Edward my secret, no matter how hard it was not to give the secret up.

The music was currently not doing anything to prevent me from thinking about Edward. I shut it off with an aggravated sigh and squeezed the steering wheel tight, trying to relieve some of the built up tension I had packed up within me.

I focused on the road in front of me, and rain started pouring out of the sky. It seemed to match my current mood and feelings. Everything was great, but then again, it was all wrong. 

I had made many new friends, school itself was fine, but strange things kept happening to me, and it was not helping that I had met the Cullen family and I was now infatuated with one of them. 

The rain itself was soothing to me, no matter how hard it was pounding on my truck and windshield. The soothing soon ended when a burst of light flashed across the road, enabling me to see the heavy rain and the few feet ahead of me. A thundering roar rumbled deep in the ground following the lightning. 

I gasped and jumped slightly; my heart was now racing a hundred miles an hour. The sudden thunderstorm rolled into the city of Forks quickly and here I was, driving out in the heart of it. 

Another flash lightened up the road, and I could faintly see the outline of my house if I squinted closely. The thunder came again just as I pushed down harder on the pedal, urging to go faster. My truck made a sputter of protest, and it lurched forward slightly, before slowing down even more than the speed it was going at before. 

I mentally cursed before lessening the pressure of my foot on the gas pedal, in order to achieve the original speed the truck was at before; but the truck only went slower. 

_  
Please don't give up on me!_

I thought to myself. Even though the house was within my sight, I did not want to have to run through the downpour. The lightning was so close; it looked as if it would hit me if I went outside. 

The truck gradually started getting slower and as soon as I finally rolled up to the driveway in a small crawl, I shut off the engine, yanked my keys out and flew out the door. Slamming it behind me with another crack of lightning to accompany it. 

I dashed over to the steps and raced up them, crashing into the door. I was fumbling with the doorknob when horror struck me. 

I could feel the blood drain from my face, and I let my hand fall from the handle to hang limp at my side. 

I leaned my head against the door and slowly turned around to slide against it and fall to the porch floor with a small thump. 

My keys for the house were on a separate keychain, which was in my locker, at school. Edward and I had just left, without getting any of our bags. 

Why did I have to put the house key on a separate chain! Normal people put it on the same chain with their car keys. 

_Stupid, stupid, stupid…_

I pulled my knees up to rest my elbows on them and let my head fall into my hands. Charlie should hopefully be coming home soon, and he would let me inside. 

It was quiet around me except for the thundering, and the rain pattering down on the grass and the road. The lightning lit up the field around me and I could see the forest if I looked to the right. The dark looming trees were eerie, and it sent a shiver down my spine. 

I couldn't see anything beyond the first row of trees. I took a deep breath and looked out in front of me again. I almost screamed when another bolt of lightning was followed by the shrill of a ringing phone.

I looked all around me and I finally realized that the only phone was inside the house. I stood up carefully and used the side of the house for support because my knees were so shaky. 

I glanced around me at the walls of the house, my wet hair whipping at my face. There was a window beside me, but I didn't know if it was locked or not. I took a step toward the window; the phone was still ringing, reminding me that I needed to get inside. 

I looked down at the windowsill and saw that the latch was not properly in place. I also jumped for joy when I realized that I could get inside, and out of this insane weather. 

I tried pushing on the window, and the latch pushed up a little bit more. There was a slight crack underneath and I grazed my fingertips across it to see how much space there was. I decided that it would hurt too much to stick my fingers in there and try to pry it open.

I turned around, trying to peer at the sullen landscape. I could barely see anything past the truck, but light was granted to me, and the first thing I saw was a stick. I ran down from the steps to where the stick was and picked it up. The wind was starting to pick up again, and the rain was pouring down onto my hair and into my sweater, chilling me to the bone. 

I ran back up the stairs, eager to shove the stick in the slit of the window. I was too eager because my boot caught underneath the top stair and I went flying forwards, dropping the stick ahead of me, and scraping my hands and my knees against the wooden porch.

I hissed from the pain as I lifted myself up and inspected my hands. There were about a dozen splinters in my hands, and my jeans were ripped at the knees. The stinging sensation in my hands did not deter me from the stick.

I hastily picked up the stick, ignoring the pain of the splinters as they were digging themselves further into my hand. I winced and pushed the stick into the crack.

I pushed down on the stick, using it as a lever to get the window to push up on the latch, and open. The stick was about two fingers thick and I wondered if it would break on me. 

I groaned when I pushed my weight all the way down, the stick burning my hand, after about a minute of pushing down, with only succeeding in pushing the latch a tad bit, I tried a different approach. 

I grasped the stick near the end that was inside the window and tried wiggling it. I gave a small cry of pain as I felt blood trickling down my hand. I looked down and the lightning flared again, showing bright crimson blood on my skin.

At the sight of blood, I immediately stopped breathing through my nose, but I continued pushing and wiggling the stick. The phone had remained silent for a minute or two, but it had started up again.

Just as I was almost ready to give up on the attempt to open the window, I pushed one last time and the stick snapped into pieces just as the window flew open. I braced myself as I was thrown backwards onto the porch and landed onto my bleeding hands. 

I gave two cries before leaping up and crawling through the window, stumbling through the living room and into the kitchen. I leaned myself against the doorframe, dragging my bloody hands across the wall it as I supported my aching knees, butt, and hands.

I yanked the phone off of the hook and bit back another pain with a hiss as I answered with a stern, "Yes." It didn't quite come out as a hiss, but it was close enough. 

"Bella?" Charlie's voice drifted through the earpiece and I sagged against the wall, closing my eyes and sliding down the bloody wall. The phone and the cord began to match the wall in colour. 

I tried not to hold on too tightly because of the splinters. "Why aren't you home yet Dad?" I asked him, aggravated.

"As soon as the storm started, I turned around and went down to the station. I will be down here for most of the night okay Bella? You'll be all right; you're a big girl. I'm down here because usually during storms the power-" 

_  
Goes out?_

I finished the rest of Charlie's sentence for him in my mind as the shrill of a bell rang out through the house, signalling that the power had gone out. I looked up at the lights and almost swore at it. The lightning gradually lit up the window above the kitchen sink and the house was silent, except for the rain and thunder. 

I grunted as I heaved myself off of the floor and pushed the phone back onto the hook. I blindly searched the kitchen with only the aid of the lightning to guide me every couple of seconds as I sought out a drawer. 

Charlie kept the necessities in that drawer and I knew there would be a flashlight in there. 

With shaky hands, I pulled open the drawer and frantically threw my bloody hands about to find the flashlight.

Once I found it, I turned it on, and pointed it around the room. A noise coming from the family room echoed throughout the house and I stopped breathing once again. The blood had somehow not reached my nose yet, and I was grateful. 

I turned off the flashlight and made my way down the hallway, creeping silently, or so I thought, along the wall. I used my free hand to guide me through the dark house. I wasn't quiet because the old flooring of the house had left me vulnerable. The wooden floors were creaking underneath my feet, and threatening to reveal me. 

Once I made it to the doorway of the living room, I quickly threw myself forwards and turned the flashlight on at the same time. My tense shoulders slowly slumped down when I realized that it was the window hitting against the sill as the wind rattled it about.

I walked over to the window and closed it, glaring at the porch and the broken stick. I then made my way back to the kitchen to wash my hands and take out as many splinters as I could. 

As I passed the walls, I couldn't help but be a little bit afraid. Even though I knew the blood was mine, it looked frightening along the walls. I had forgotten about the blood when I dragged my hands across them. 

My hands were becoming numb, and I was now starting to feel nauseous because of the blood. My head tilted to one side and I almost hit the wall, but I balanced myself and ran the rest of the way to the kitchen sink. I threw my flashlight on the counter and turned on the taps, thrusting my hands underneath the blistering cold water. I yelped in surprise as I started taking deep breaths. 

I shook my hands and tried to rid myself of the awful blood. I could faintly see the water turning a red, murky colour and then finally it was just clear water. I switched the tap off and shook my hands out. I shone the light on my hands on the counter as I bent over and examined them. 

There were eight splinters in my right hand and four in my left. I used my index and middle finger to pluck the four splinters out of my left hand. Most of them on this hand were easy to get, but my right hand was a lot harder.

I had managed to almost fully shove a couple of splinters in my palm. I shrieked as I pinched my skin, trying my best to pull them out. 

When I finally had all of the splinters out, I tossed them in the garbage, and washed my hands with lots of soap to get rid of any dirt inside the cuts. 

I was able to breath slowly through my nose without my world turning upside down. This night was just an absolute disaster, and it kept getting worse. What else could happen?

_Just that! _I thought when I heard the wind howl around the house, the shingles on the roof flapping, the wood creaking, and the rain turning into pellets. I shut my eyes as I groaned and dried my hands off on the towel hanging from the stove. 

I snatched the flashlight from the counter and I proceeded to go upstairs to change. The upstairs was even creepier than the downstairs because all of the doors were shut and there were no windows in the hallway, only in the bedrooms. I walked slowly down the hallway towards my room for a reason I did not know. 

There was no one inside the house, I was just freaking myself out because of the wrath that was coming from outside, making it seem like a nightmare come alive. 

I gathered what strength I had left and marched into my room, removed my wet clothes and changed into thick track pants and a heavy pullover sweater. I pulled my boots back on and left the wet clothes in a pile on the floor. I shoved my wet hair away from my face and over my shoulder as I made my way back down the stairs, my boots thudding loudly.

I couldn't stay here anymore. The house was going to fall to the ground. I had to see if my truck was going to work or not, and allow me to leave. 

The yellow light coming from the flashlight and the white light from outside were bouncing across the room as I frantically ran through the kitchen; passing the bloody walls and phone. 

I grabbed a dishcloth from a drawer and ripped it in half with my agonizing hands. I took the time to wrap one half on each hand to prevent further bleeding. My hands had already stopped bleeding, but it might start up again.

I tore a piece of paper from a pad and scrawled a note onto it, turned the flashlight off, grabbed my car keys from the counter and thrust the note on the table. 

_Gone to the Cullens, house is going to fall apart._

_  
Bella._

I had vaguely remembered the way to the Cullen's house, and they were the only option that I had. I hoped that they would not mind me intruding, but I think that Carlisle and Esme would understand; they were nice people. 

When I heard the loud crash that came from outside, I ran from the kitchen and unlocked the door from the inside and ran outside, slamming the door behind me, not caring that it wasn't going to be locked. No one was going to come barging into the house in the middle of a storm, especially one that was wreaking as much havoc as this. 

I gasped quietly when I saw that my red truck was pushed over on its side. There were stray roof shingles across the lawn, and random branches that were whipping across the yard. 

The tree by the side of the house was abnormally bent over, and the branches were slapping around. I looked over to the forest to see some fallen trees. 

Subconsciously, I stepped down the steps and walked over to the truck. There was no way that I was going to be able to pick this up again. The tires were spinning and the rain was smacking against the truck with loud, resounding hits. I crossed my arms over my chest in an attempt to shield myself from the threatening wind. 

The pellets were hitting my head and body like little rocks being thrown at me. I winced in pain as I thought about my dilemma. What was I going to do?

The wind somehow managed to pick up even more, and it almost threw me off balance. I walked around to the other side of the truck to look inside of it and see how damaged it was.

The window that was on the ground was smashed; the shattered glass lay beneath my feet. 

Lightning lit up the sky again and it flickered against the glass, shining in my eyes. I put my bandaged hand up in front of my face, just as I saw more light behind me. The lightning bolt had struck the tree facing my back, and I heard a crack before I turned around, and saw the tree start to fall my way. 

In a state of disbelief, I put my hands down and took two steps backwards. The tree plummeted forwards, as I let out a terrified shriek.


	16. Heart

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**Well, this chapter came out much more quicker than the last! And I already have the next chapter written, it just needs to be edited.**

**I think most of you will hate me for this chapter. The cliffy at the end of the last chapter and now this chapter…We'll see.**

**Thanks to **_**Rachelle**_** for editing.**

**I do not own Twilight it belongs to Stephanie Meyer. **

--

I stumbled backwards before sprinting away from the falling tree; I did not make it far enough though. The massive tree branches slammed into my back, pitching me forward onto my stomach.

I gave a yell of surprise as I felt the stinging of the tree branches leaving marks as they were already seeping into the depths of my back. The welts and marks were already starting to pulse underneath my sweater. I hissed through my teeth, ignoring the pulsing of my already hurt hands as I crawled forwards to escape the confinement of the branches. 

I felt something snagging at the hood of my sweater, and I realized that the tree had captured me within its snarl. I turned my head to the side, trying to see what I was dealing with. I was instantly met with a bunch of leaves right in my face, and I couldn't see anything. The tree branches were latched onto my hood firmly and they were twisting all over the place. The branches were flapping around, and the rain was coming down even harder than it was before. 

I wiggled my butt and my legs and tried to crawl forwards again. I placed my hands in front of face and pushed against the mushy grass. I succeeded in moving a little bit, but when I strained to go further, my sweater held me in place. The muscles in my arms were straining and were beginning to hurt. 

I growled low in my throat before I tried rolling onto my side. 

_Yes!_

This tactic seemed to work, so I continued to do it until I was free of the tree branches' clutches. However, the rolling didn't seem to help my situation. The marks on my back were starting to hurt even more. 

I took a deep breath through my nose and I could smell blood. I glanced down at my bandaged hands, and saw brown liquid. The blood wasn't red anymore because of the rain soaking onto the fabric of the towel. I stood up slowly, taking in the sight before me. 

The tree in the front yard had split into two. The first half of it was still standing, the tree branches waving madly around. The other half of the tree had fallen onto the red truck and some of the tree branches were strewn across the ground beside it. Those were the branches that had fallen on me. 

I hesitantly touched my hand to my back to feel some of the marks. My sweater was soaking wet, but I could feel the lines underneath my sweater. I grimaced in pain as I looked back at the tree branches on the ground. 

I whistled in disbelief before chuckling to myself. Why I was chuckling, I didn't know. The situation was so ironic, that it could only happen to me. Only I, Bella Swan, would get stuck in the angriest storm Forks has ever seen, have my truck break down on me, get locked out of my house, scrape my hands, fall through a window, create blood images all over the walls of the house and get hit by a falling tree. I shook my head in disbelief before turning around to face the road.

I wondered how old that tree was. I think it was the same age as me. My parents had planted it when I was born and I remembered it getting bigger and bigger each year I had come down to visit Charlie in the summer time. 

I screamed loudly when I heard another crack, and I turned back to face the second half of the tree that was still standing. A bolt of lightning had struck it, and it started to fall towards me. My mind registered what was happening, and I bolted from the house.

I heard it fall to the ground and the branches smacking loudly against the puddles of water, another bolt of lightning and thunder accompanied it; making it all seem so surreal. Like a movie where things just continued to get worse.

My heart was pounding in my chest as I ran blindly through the storm. I could barely see what was in front me, but I knew that I was on the road. I was going to try and go to the Cullen's house. I hoped that I would be able to find my way. I remembered that it was down a long driveway, which was hidden off of the main road.

The lightning continued to flash before me as the road curved in various directions, causing me to go mad. I whipped my head around all over the place, looking for some sort of indication that I was getting closer to the Cullen mansion. 

I could barely recognize where I was. Nothing looked familiar because it was havoc. Fallen trees and branches were strewn all over the place, and the road was becoming a mudslide. Water splashed up at me as I continued to run through the heart of the storm.

The rain lashed out at my face and I kept closing my eyes against the pain of it. I fell forward and landed in the mud. I ignored my body protesting that I should lie back down in the mud, as I heaved myself up and continued running. My arms, back, hands and legs were screaming loudly at me. 

I stopped every now and then to take a breather. I had never run this fast in my life, even though I was falling down every minute or so. A pain in my chest started to develop and I grabbed at the middle of my side to try and relieve it. Every breath I took resulted in me wincing and instead, taking small, short breaths.

The lightning loomed overhead and I looked up at the sky, glaring at it when hail started hitting me on the head. I raised my hands over my head to try and protect it, but to no avail. 

I started running again with white hail smacking me in the face. I fell once again into a puddle full of water and mud and just lay there, defeated. 

My eyes closed and the hail pounded on my back. I tried to get up, but I couldn't, my body wouldn't let me. It was just shutting down on me, but my mind wasn't.

_  
Get up!_

I was now shouting at myself. 

I was going to go delusional now. I opened my eyes and squinted at the landscape before me. I was seeing things swirl about before me. The hail was dancing before my eyes and changing into different shapes and images.

The wind was pushing it around and around, creating a swirl of hail. I frowned before shaking my head and letting myself fall back onto the ground. 

I lay there helpless for who knows how long; just thinking of what exactly it was I was doing. I could have gone to anyone else's house that was perhaps closer. But no, instead, I chose to go to Edward's house. 

I groaned, my body aching and not agreeing with me when I tried to push up. 

I opened my eyes and tried to look around, but everything was blurry. I could faintly hear someone talking…or shouting? 

I put my head back down with a little splash and put my hands by my head, to try and push myself up. It didn't work, and the Earth's gravity pulled me back to the mud puddle once again. I think we were becoming great friends. 

I groaned before I finally managed to roll over onto my back. I felt the cold water seeping into my already wet sweater, and I shivered some more. 

The hail had turned back into rain and it was now splattering against my face, washing away the mud. I could feel the mud and rain sliding down my face and I lifted my hand to wipe the rest of it away. 

The bandages were starting to unravel, and were sopping wet. The mud and blood mixed together was pretty revolting and I kept myself from gagging at the smell that rose from my hands. 

I put my hands in front of me and yanked off the bandage on my left hand, and then did the same for my right hand. 

I could feel the crisp air already penetrating deep down inside the cuts I had on my hands. They had finally stopped bleeding, I thought, for which I was grateful. I placed them down in the watery mud, to try and clean them out a little bit more. 

The voice was getting closer and I realized that someone was calling my name. I recognized the voice, but I couldn't place it. I frowned in bewilderment; who on Earth would be out in this storm? 

_Besides me._

The person finally reached me and knelt down beside me in the mud. Cold hands pressed up against my cheek and I let out a sharp breath of surprise. 

Edward was here and I couldn't believe it. He always seemed to somehow know when to come for me when I was in trouble or danger. He was the one that would infuriate me to no end, the one who helped me when I needed it, the one who was there to talk to me. He was so mysterious, but this just compelled me to further be intrigued. 

Why was I thinking about this now? I was so incoherent and out of it that I must have been thinking madly. 

These thoughts were driving me insane. Everything that people had told me about the Cullens and what I thought personally were conflicting within each other. My mind wouldn't seem to make up a decision. Half of me wanted to go to Edward, while the other half was against it. 

I sighed in content, my mind becoming blank when I smelt Edward's intoxicating presence so close to me. I was sure I would faint from it. 

I fought to stay coherent, but I was so exhausted and Edward's smell was making me lose my train of thought.

It was Edward and he was not alone. There were two other people I saw, sort of. Everyone's shape was blurry and I could barely see where they were standing. I could see the outline of their shape, but not their facial features.

"What is she doing in the puddle?" A different voice questioned, which I thought to be Jasper's, but I couldn't be too sure. "She's hurt." His voice cut off abruptly when I raised my hands up to wipe the rain away from my face.

A voice boomed out that was Emmett's, I realized. "Well pick her up!" He demanded. 

"I can't!" A pained voice replied back, which I knew to be Edward's. His hand retreated from my cheek and I missed the presence of it already. 

I mumbled incoherently, "Why?"

All three of the Cullen boys stopped talking and my vision was starting to come back.

Edward was looming up above me, the rain making his bronze hair even more dishevelled, making me want to run my hands through it and fix it. Even though it looked better in it's messy disarray. 

I pulled myself up into a sitting position before Edward's hand stopped me by placing his hand on my shoulder. "What are you doing?" He asked incredulously. 

"Getting up?" I replied as a question.

"No, you're hurt." 

"So pick her up," Emmett demanded of Edward. 

"She's bleeding…" Edward replied back, looking at Emmett.

I looked down at my hands and squinted at them through the rain. They had indeed started bleeding a little bit again. The blood was just underneath the edges of the cuts, ready to spill out again over the surface. I placed them back down in the muddy puddle. 

I saw that Jasper was far behind Emmett, shaking. I asked, "Is Jasper all right?" 

Emmett chuckled, "You're the one bleeding and you're asking if he's all right?" He shook his head in total disbelief.

I was frowning now; I didn't understand what was going on. The situation was strange to me. Why couldn't Edward pick me up? I didn't want him to, but he kept stilling me every time I tried to stand up. I would glare at him when he did this, and he glared right back. 

"You're hurt," Edward stated. I ignored him, and after a moment, I forced myself upwards onto my feet. 

"What happened Bella?" Jasper asked me, strained. 

I looked over to him and mumbled quickly, "The house was locked, I climbed through the window, and fell, getting splinters in my hands, power went out, went outside, car was over, and tree fell on me…" 

I closed my eyes again as I swayed a little bit and all three of them gasped as I put my bleeding hand to my forehead. I was becoming dizzy and I feared I would pass out at any moment. 

"I'm going to go get the car…" Jasper said and turned and ran off, disappearing from my sight completely. 

I groaned again as my head started to pound from all of the excitement I had endured tonight. The dizziness, the pounding, my tiredness and Edward's smell did not help me at all and I felt me eyelids flutter as I started to fall backwards into the puddle once again. 

But before I could, Edward growled, sighed angrily and put his arms underneath my backside and the backs of my knees, lifting me up off of the ground. 

"What are you doing? Put me down!" My eye's shot wide open because of the swaying motion that was emitted from Edward carrying me and starting to walk. 

My protests began to die down when I felt Edward's rock hard chest against my side. I sighed in content, and closed my eyes, snuggling up closer to his body without realizing it; even though there was barely any heat emitting from his body. 

I frowned when I pushed my ear closer against the left side of his chest and my eyes opened wide in shock. 

There was no heartbeat. 


	17. Lone Candle

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**Woot, this chapter came up quickly! You guys should be proud of me, three chapters with no huge delay in between.**

**Thanks to **_**Rachelle**_** for editing. :) **

**See you later!!**

**--**

I lifted my head in surprise before placing it back against his chest to listen very carefully for the steady beat that should have been there.

There was absolutely nothing. 

No sign of thumping and no steady beat to go along with Edward's walking. No heart to be pumping blood into the muscles that were currently carrying me now. Edward wasn't weak, and he was holding me up with ease, his muscles barley straining underneath his shirt. His heart should be making noises to show that he was alive, and there was nothing. 

I raised my hands to the left side of his chest and tentatively pressed my fingers and then my palm against him. I could feel the muscles rippling underneath my touch and Edward immediately stopped walking, looking down upon me with surprised eyes.

I glanced up at him and muttered, "Edward, why isn't there a heartbeat?" 

Emmett stopped walking and I could hear him curse underneath his breath. I was now frowning even more. Both Edward and Emmett were reacting weirdly to this 'discovery' I had made.

"Bella, you're not coherent at the moment; you're imagining things. You've been through a lot tonight and you have been knocked around," Edward replied with his jaw constricted. 

"I'm coherent," I snapped angrily at him. "Let me down." 

Edward sighed and then stood me upright and let go of my hands. I wobbled slightly and thrust my hands out in front of me to steady myself. Edward had done the same as well, holding up his hands, ready to grab hold of me again if I should sway and fall.

"You had better start explaining. There is no possible way that you can cover up why you have no heartbeat, or why it's not beating at the moment. Don't even come near me!" I was furiously shouting at him now and I got even angrier when he tried to approach me, his hands out if front of him, as if I were some crazy, rabid animal. An animal that was speaking English, and shouting out crazy things, like Edward not having a heartbeat. 

_  
I've gone mad._

The pounding was starting to come back into my head once again. The rain was becoming silver blurbs in front of me, blending together as one image as I saw the world tilt before me. There were doubles, triples of Edward's outline as he came even closer to me as I started closing my eyes and falling backwards. His body became another blur in front of my eyes and I couldn't make out his facial features, but I managed to hear him shout my name. 

The last thing I felt was Edward catching me with one hand on my lower back and then his other hand came up behind my neck to steady me as I passed out. 

I opened my eyes and my vision was immediately fuzzy. It took me a couple of moments for my eyes to adjust to the light. Well, barely any light. I looked about the room that I was in and tried to determine where exactly I was. 

I was laying down on a black couch with a blanket draped over me. I sat up quickly, causing the blanket to fall down into my lap and me to groan out loud in displeasure when my head throbbed from the sudden movement. 

I looked about again and I noticed the wall was covered in CDs. 

_  
CDs…where..._

My eyes widened in surprise before realizing that I was in Edward's room, on his black leather couch. 

I threw the blanket off me and stood up quickly; again, not the greatest idea. I fell back, sitting down on the couch, and I put my hand to my forehead. I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply through my nose to settle down my now rattling brain. 

I felt something scratching against my forehead and I lifted my hand off to look at it, opening my eyes slowly and cautiously. 

Opening them like this seemed to work and the pain dulled to a smaller hum. There was something on my hand and I brought it closer to my face to further inspect it. There was hardly any light in the room for me to look at my hand.

There was a white cloth that was wrapped around my hand, the kind you get at the doctors to stop further bleeding of a wound. I raised my other hand and saw that it was also wrapped with the cloth.

I put my hands down and slowly turned my head to look out of the huge window that took up the wall. It was dark out and it was still raining, I could tell, if I squinted my eyes into small slits.

I glanced down at the small table that was beside the couch, holding an analog clock and saw that it read 2:00.

I frowned; it can't be the afternoon… 

_  
In the morning?!_

By now, I started freaking out and I rose up off of the couch and strode over to the door, where there was faint, yellow light pouring underneath the crack of the door. 

I opened it slowly and cautiously, sticking my head out of the small opening and peering out into the hallway. Edward's room was the only room that I knew of on this floor, and there were three stories to this mansion.

I looked down at my feet, spotting what the source of light was. There was a candle against the wall with a protector around it, shielding it from going out. It was at its last breath of life, and it slowly went out while I stared at it. Smoke emitted from the candle and filled my nostrils with the heavy smell. I coughed slightly before I stepped out of the room and began walking towards the staircase. Quietly, I tiptoed across the wooden floor and felt around for the railing; there was no other light to guide me. Whenever the floor creaked beneath my feet, I would grimace. 

I made it down the first staircase and I was proceeding to go down to the next staircase when I wondered if the house was empty. I couldn't hear a thing coming from any of the rooms. The floor didn't creak, except for when I walked upon it, and the TV wasn't on. I figured that the power was still out because it wasn't on and there was a candle outside the door, instead of a light. 

I finally made it down to the last step and as I walked over to the living room. I looked down the hallway towards the kitchen, to find that it was completely dark.

_That's strange, why would they only have one candle out for me, but not for everyone else?_

I faced forward to my destination and saw Alice and Edward sitting on the couches, watching the rain as it poured down outside the window. 

A bolt of lightning struck, and lit up the darkened room, just as Edward looked over my way, making his purple bruises underneath his eyes eerie and creepy. His face was lit up for a brief second before the lightning died down and was followed by thunder. His face then became darker, but his eyes, his topaz eyes, stood out brightly in the dark. They were my candles in the dark room; my source of light. Alice's eyes didn't even have the same effect as Edward's did. 

I shivered slightly in the doorway and walked into the room just as Edward rose from his position and Alice turned her head to look at me.

"How are you feeling Bella?" Edward inquired, looking at me with concern in his eyes. 

My heart clenched and stopped beating for a brief second as I saw the emotion play out in his eyes as I became mute, staring into his eyes. I finally blinked once before nodding my head and answering, "Better, thank you." My voice had gone hoarse, and I tried to clear my throat to remove the rasp. 

"I'll get you a glass of water Bella," Alice chirped happily from her seat, standing up and bouncing off down the hallway, smiling as she passed me.

"Thank you Alice!" I called down after her, the rasp still in my throat. I tried swallowing my dry throat a couple of times, but it only made it worse. 

I heard her tinkling laugh float back towards me as I looked at Edward again and asked, "What happened?"

"You were lying down in a puddle when I found you. I had driven down with Jasper and Emmett when the power went out to see if you needed any help at your house. You were just lying there and you were hurt, you had scraped your hands on your front porch, trying to climb through a window. Then you were hit by the branches of a falling tree when you came back outside, and then you ran." Edward repeated my night's events for me.

"How do you know all this?" I asked, baffled.

"You were sort of awake when we found you and you mumbled it all out to us," He chuckled briefly before looking me directly in the eyes. 

I frowned and looked at the ground, pieces of the evening were slowly coming back to me. 

"How did you get your car out of the garage if the power was out?" I asked him, knowing that electric garage doors did not operate when the power was out. 

Edward's face froze and his jaw clamped tightly together before replying, "Outside. It was already outside in the driveway from earlier."

My frown continued to deepen when flashes of remembrance came to me. Edward had picked me up and I had discovered something… 

_  
But what was it?_

I looked down to Edward's chest and then I suddenly remembered it. I opened my mouth to scream at him when Alice bounced up behind me and told me, "Here's your water and I also got you some Advil from Carlisle's study. I figured you still might have a headache, since it was the reason you passed out in the first place." Alice winked at me before handing me the items and walking over to stand beside Edward.

My previous thoughts were forgotten as I graciously drank a large gulp of water and then put the Advil down my throat, taking a sip and then tipping my head back to make sure it went down. 

I finished the rest of the water and stopped breathing to find Edward and Alice staring at me, without blinking, seeming transfixed by what I had just accomplished. 

I turned my head back to see if there was someone behind me and then looked back at the siblings, but they were broken from the spell. 

Alice came forward, and took the glass from my hand and gave it over to Edward, and then grabbed my hand, "Let's get you into some warmer clothing, I'm sure I could find you something. We'll also dry your hair to make sure you don't get a cold. Who knows how long you were outside for?" Alice's eyes twinkled and she started pulling me forward.

I complied, grateful to be out of these wet cloths and into something far more comfortable. 

Alice was walking a little too quickly and I had to catch myself on the stairs a couple of times, seeing as we were in complete darkness except for the small glow coming from the occasional strike of lightning. 

We finally reached her room on the second floor and she let go of my hand at the door and disappeared into the darkness. I stepped into the room, only to be completely engulfed in darkness.

I stopped and waited for Alice to come back to me. I could hear her rummaging through something, the sound of plastic scraping against metal. I figured it was hangers sliding across the metal bars of her closet, looking for something for me to wear. She called out to me, "What size are you Bella?" 

"Um…small?" I replied in a tiny voice, not trusting my voice enough to give her the actual size, it was still raspy. I heard her laugh and then continue looking through her closet.

I clasped my hands together in front of me, wringing them together. The bandage that was wrapped around my hands interfering with playing with my fingers, so I just placed my right hand into the palm of my left. 

Alice finally loomed out of the darkness and walked towards me, with a small bundle of clothing in her tiny arms.

"Here, follow me and I'll lead you into the bathroom where you can change!" Alice smiled at me, flashing her white teeth in the dark room.

She turned around and I followed closely after her, so as not to get lost within her dark room. I could barely see what was in front of me, so I didn't get a chance to see what her room looked like. One thing was for sure; I could tell that it was a large room. 

We stopped before a wall, and Alice went through a doorway and then came back empty handed and gestured for me to go in. "I put the clothes on the edge of the counter for you. Sorry about the lack of light, no power yet." She handed me a small flashlight. "You can also hang up your wet clothes along the side of the bathtub."

I nodded and raised my arm against the doorframe to feel my way around into the bathroom. I turned on the flashlight and shone it around the bathroom, realizing it was huge.

My eyes widened and I set the flashlight beside the clothes on the counter, shining it against the wall beside me. I could see my reflection through the mirror and saw how tired I looked. I had a couple of bruises on my cheek and neck. 

I scrunched up my nose in disgust before tearing off my wet clothing and throwing them to the ground. Alice had given me a pair of jeans, a black t-shirt and a blue fluffy sweater to go on top. I smiled at the softness of the sweater before I started completely undressing. 

I winced when I felt my shirt scraping against my back. I turned around and looked into the mirror behind me, seeing large welts across my back, thankfully not bleeding. There were also a couple of bruises to accompany them. I hadn't even remembered that they were there on my back. I changed quickly, but carefully, avoiding applying more pressure onto the welts.

Once I was dressed, I grabbed my clothing and draped it over the side of the bathtub. Alice knocked on the door and opened it slightly, before seeing I was dressed and coming in. She was carrying a towel and she walked up to me, appraising the outfit. "Blue does look really nice on your skin. Let's dry your hair."

I sat down on the edge of the bathtub and she placed the towel on top of my head, pressing it down and applying pressure to get rid of all of the water. 

Once she was done, she quickly combed through it, removing the tangled knots and then announced, "All done, well at least what can be done without a blow dryer." Her bell-like laugh chimed throughout the bathroom, bringing a smile to my face. 

I stood up and followed her out of the bathroom, grabbing the flashlight off of the counter on my way out.

We made our way back down the stairs to Edward in the living room and we both sat down. Edward was already sitting on the big chair, so Alice and I sat on the double-seated couch. Alice picked up a blanket off of the back of the couch and handed it to me to warm me up a little bit more. I had started to shiver without even realizing it. 

"Where is everyone?" I inquired; it was odd they should be out in the storm. 

"Carlisle was still at work when the storm hit. Esme went up to go visit him and tend to those who might have been injured by the mess the storm has created. Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper…had left while you were sleeping to go to our other house to make sure nothing was damaged during the storm," Edward informed me.

"I hope nothing happens to them!" I admitted, truthfully. This storm was awful for anyone to be out and about in. I had only endured about an hour of it's havoc, and it was enough excitement to last me for a while now. "Where is your other house?" I inquired.

"It was our other house that we had before we moved here to Forks. It's in the state of Oregon, so it's not a far drive," Alice answered for me, instead of Edward.

"How come you guys are up at such an early time?" I asked my final question, to either Edward or Alice. 

Edward was the once who answered me, "We stayed up just in case anyone came home, and because we cannot sleep during storms. They're too loud." 

I nodded, most of my questions being answered. There was still one important question that hadn't been answered yet, and I intended to find out. I looked out of the window, not bothering to bring it up yet. If I had a moment to talk to Edward while he was alone, I would ask him.

The rain was pouring out of the sky. Maybe it was God's wrath sent down upon us? I couldn't truthfully answer because I didn't know. Whatever the reason was, I'm sure it was justified. Almost getting smothered by a tree better have had good reasoning behind it. It could have, because now I was here, watching the rain, lightning and hearing the thunder, with Edward.


	18. Timeless

I sighed in blissful content as the raging storm continued to bellow out in front of the protected walls of the house

**Please don't hate me for not updating for so long. I really have a lot going on in my life right now.**

**Exams and assignments are coming up, so bare with me at the time!**

**Please review to let me know you're still here, and don't hate me for the end of this chapter! ******

**Thanks **_**Rachelle**_** for editing.**

**I do not own twilight it belongs to Stephanie Meyer**

--

I sighed in blissful content as the raging storm continued to bellow out in front of the protected walls of the house. The rain turned back into hail, and the lightning flashed across the sky, lighting up the barren landscape. The trees surrounding the Cullen's mansion and driveway were dark and looming, daring me to enter them.

I knew that it was strange for me to be happy at the moment, as I had so many unasked questions that were just daring to be blurted from my mouth. I had sealed my lips tight, by keeping my lips pressed together. I had to wait to talk to Edward; I needed to talk to him alone.

There's a storm outside, there's people out there, possibly getting hurt, and here I was inside. I hoped that no one was going to end up seriously hurt, and I wished that there were something that I could do.

I was with two people I trusted, inside an unknown house to me, with no power, but still, I was happy. There was just some irresistible pull towards Edward's family that I couldn't seem to let go of. The more that I found out about him, the more that I wanted to spend time with him.

I hadn't forgotten about our planned trip to Seattle on Saturday, even though it was still Thursday. I didn't think there was going to be school tomorrow. The community would be too busy cleaning up the mess the storm left behind in its wake.

Truth be told, I was looking forward to this trip. I wasn't going to shop for a whole new wardrobe, just some sweaters, jeans and my favourite thing in the world: books. The attire I had packed from Phoenix wasn't exactly suited for the weather of Forks. I had enough money for the items I wanted to purchase, and I was looking forward to spending it.

It was now apparently 3:00 a.m. Edward, Alice and I had sat in the living room without talking for one straight hour. I knew that we were all thinking about different things. My mind was going crazy, leaping from one topic to the next. Being happy, Seattle trip, and now it was going back to Edward. Everything always wound up back to him.

There was no plausible explanation for why I couldn't detect a heartbeat coming from within Edward's chest. I sat there with my legs crossed and the blanket draped over me for one whole hour; just sitting there, thinking.

I had to get Edward to explain it to me. Most likely, he would try to change the conversation, or lead me off topic. I _needed_ to get an opportunity to talk to Edward about the situation. Nothing made sense about him, and it never did when I first met him. It probably never would, unless he would tell me the truth.

I thought back to the first day of school here in Forks and my encounter with Edward. His golden eyes meeting mine from across the cafeteria, how I blushed and immediately looked down at the table. Edwards' black, sinister eyes peering at me with a facial expression of an angry man; ready to murder me in Biology class.

Edward's perfection, swiftness, cold pale skin, and his eyes all had something to do with a much larger thing. I knew that it was part of his family secret, no doubt about it. How large of a factor did it play in that secret though?

Jacob telling me that he wasn't normal, which I already knew, but it still seemed to shock me for some reason. That Edward was someone who I shouldn't be hanging around, Jacob had said.

What was it about him that I couldn't place my finger on? Who exactly _was _Edward Cullen?

I frowned and looked over to where Edward was sitting on the chair. I saw him nod slightly while looking at Alice and my frown deepened even more. I shifted my line of sight to peer at Alice through the corner of my eye.

She was looking at Edward intently, never blinking. I immediately shifted my gaze forward at the window; it felt like I was intruding upon their personal space. I felt a small blush creep onto my face and I willed it to go away.

I shifted down into the couch more, pulling the blanket up to my chin and closing my eyes. I leaned my head back against the headrest of the comfortable couch and let myself fall into a pleasant slumber, not dreaming of the raging storm outside, or the two people in the same room as me.

I awoke sometime later to the fast whispering voices of two people carrying out towards where I was laying down. A high-pitched voice, and a velvet voice: Alice and Edward.

I lifted my head up to search for where they were whispering. I found them in the front hall, where Alice was waving her hands around and Edward was just standing there politely. I realized that they were having a small argument. They both looked towards me, slightly surprised to see me awake.

Alice immediately put her arms down and her facial features softened. "I'm sorry Bella, we didn't mean to wake you. Edward here is being unreasonable. Will you help me?" Alice had walked over to me and pulled me up to my feet as I rubbed my eyes, yawning.

She dragged me over to Edward and then crossed her arms once she let go of me. She glared at him and then shifted her body to face me.

"You'll be all right if I leave you and Edward here right?" Alice inquired. "The storm has mostly stopped and I was going to go check up on Carlisle and Esme down at the hospital and also see if I could find my siblings."

I frowned, wondering why I would have a problem with any of this. I hadn't realized that the storm was over, and I glanced out of the window and saw that the sky was becoming lighter.

I shook my head; looking over to Edward, "I have no problem, as long as it's okay with you for me to stay here a little bit longer. Charlie will still probably have to stay down at the station, and my house probably fell apart!" I chuckled nervously at the end, hoping that it truly didn't fall apart.

Alice raised her eyebrows and then turned to look at Edward again, "See, no problem." She then grabbed her purse off of the bench and proceeded to walk out the door.

I rose my eyebrows as well and then tilted my head to inquire, "She doesn't take no for an answer, does she?"

Edward's face broke out into his crooked grin and he replied, "You've no idea what it's like to live with her."

I laughed, and then added, "Is it all right with you for me to stay here?"

Edward's face softened and he replied back sincerely, "It's not problem, I thought that you might have had a problem with it."

I shook my head, my hair bouncing around my shoulders, still a bit damp from last night's storm. I saw Edward's eyes widen slightly, and he seemed to be entranced by my hair.

After a couple of seconds, he tentatively reached out, pausing when my breath hitched and brushed my hair off of my shoulders and away from my face. I exhaled softly and closed my eyes briefly, enjoying the touch on my head.

I opened my eyes again and caught Edward staring into my eyes, and I felt as though I couldn't look away.

Nonetheless, I managed to tear my eyes away from Edward's beautiful face and walked back into the front room to fold up the blanket I had used while I was sleeping.

I could feel Edward's presence also in the room, and I had to strain myself not to look at him again.

"So now what?" I asked Edward as I finished folding the blanket and laid it down on the arm of the couch and turned to face him. He was leaning against the door jam with his hands inside his jeans pockets, looking so at ease.

My stomach growled quite loudly at that moment, and a rose blush appeared on my face and I put my hands on my cheeks to try and cool them down. "I guess I'm hungry?" I admitted sheepishly. I knew for sure that Edward heard my stomach rumbling; it was as loud as a boulder tumbling off of a cliff.

I started walking past Edward in between the doorway, but he grabbed my arm a little hard, but when I gasped at the pressure, he loosened his grip.

"Sorry," he muttered. "We don't have much food in the house at the moment. Esme was supposed to go grocery shopping today." He let go of my arm and walked over to the front door continuing, "I can go get you something at a fast food restaurant, if that's okay for now. It's really hectic at the moment with the storm."

I nodded, watching as he put his shoes on and grabbed the car keys off of the hook. "Anything is fine, really," I shrugged, not really knowing what it was I wanted. I couldn't care less what Edward would bring back for me. As long as it was edible, I was fine with that.

"All right. You'll be okay while I go get the food? I don't want you to get sick if you come outside. You've already been outside enough already." Edward told me, looking into my eyes with a little bit of anger in them. I blushed again, remembering my foolishness yesterday.

I opened my mouth to protest when I realized that it was not that foolish at all. What else was I supposed to do in the middle of a storm with no power and no way of going someplace safe?

Edward raised a hand and cut me off by saying, "I don't want to hear it. You're fine now, that's all that matters." He smiled slightly before opening the door and walking out.

I came up to the door and watched as Edward walked over to the Volvo, and sped off down the slippery, wet driveway.

I sighed, and closed the door quietly with a small, barely audible click. I tried flicking on the lights to see if the power had been restored, but they weren't back on yet. I frowned in disappointment, and decided that the candle would have to do.

I followed the hallway into the kitchen to go look for matches, or a lighter. I reached the kitchen and squinted a bit to try and see what was where. The blind was closed, barely letting in any light from outside.

I put my hands out in front of me and blindly felt my way around over to the blind. I felt like I was back in my house with my bloody hands. I instinctively looked down at my neat, bandaged hands to find no blood, but instead I crashed into the corner of the counter.

I gasped and muttered 'ouch' as I realized there was an island in the middle of the kitchen.

I put my hand on my hip to try and dull the pounding pain, and finally reached the cord of the blind. I tugged on the cord and raised it all of the way to allow the light from the grey clouds into the kitchen.

I locked it in place and turned out to take a look. The kitchen was stainless steel, and it looked so perfect. I would love to be able to cook in a kitchen like this. I was already starting to envision it inside my head as I closed my eyes and pictured making lasagne. My stomach growled at my images, and I opened my eyes, looking down, growling back at my stomach.

I returned to my mission and proceeded to look for a source of light for the candle. I rummaged through the drawers finding most of them barely holding any items in them. There were a couple of silverware items, and other necessity items inside the drawers. I frowned, and threw open the cupboards to inspect them.

A couple of plates, bowls and glasses, and that was it. There were no pots, no pans, and none of the shelves held any canned or boxed goods. My frown continued to deepen, and I narrowed my eyes onto the refrigerator.

I walked slowly over to it and opened the door cautiously to find nothing.

I made a face and let the door fall shut. My mind was whirling with no possible explanation as to why they had no food inside the house. This new fact just added more fuel into the burning flames of questions inside my head. I stored away this information to ask later.

I quickly remembered that Alice had given me a flashlight earlier when I had gotten changed in her bathroom; I had no need for matches or a lighter.

I skipped down the hallway and over to the stairs. I began humming a Debussy song inside my head as I made my way slowly up the stairs, the light from outside getting dimmer up here because there were no windows or doors open.

Alice's room was on the second floor and when I reached it, I became confused. I couldn't recall which door it was. There were at least four doors along the hallway, taunting me. Making me feel like I was on a game show and I had to pick the correct door to win the flashlight. If I didn't, I would come upon something that I had no desire to see.

I knew for sure that it wasn't the first door to my left, or the door at the very end of the hallway. I debated inside my head, playing 'Which door is it?' I finally took a deep breath and reached my hand out to the handle of the second to last door of the hallway.

I turned the knob slowly and quietly pushed the door open. The room was practically pitch black, and I waited a minute for my eyes to adjust slightly. I pushed the door all the way open, and stepped inside the enclosed room.

Once I was inside, I opened the blind of the window halfway, and then turned around to see where I was.

It was definitely not Alice's room. It looked to be some sort of library, or study. The walls were covered in books, and there was a wooden desk and chair. The room reminded me off a professor's room at a university.

I wondered whose room it could be, Jasper's? He seemed like the quiet sibling who studied.

_No._

It was Carlisle's.

It all made sense. He was a doctor; of course he would have a study. I wondered briefly if all of Carlisle's books were about doctoring. I walked over to the door and pulled it shut, pausing when it clicked.

It was so wrong for me to be in here. I knew that I should just go back down into the front room and wait on the couch like a good guest would do.

I bit my lip and tapped my foot impatiently as I glanced up at the walls covered in books. I huffed and walked over to one wall and tilted my head back to look up at it.

There was a painting in the middle of the wall, surrounded by shelves full of books. I stepped back a bit to peer up at the image.

I stared at it a while before finally realizing that Carlisle was in the painting. Jumping at my discovery, I gaped in disbelief. The blond man looked the _exact_ same in the image as he did today.

Carlisle was with three other men standing in a magnificent room, donned in some sort of robe. The clothing was outdated and it looked so old. The painting, the frame, and the images were timeless.

I was awed as I looked at the three other men who were standing beside Carlisle in the painting. I started from the bottom, at the feet and I looked at the very elaborate clothing they were wearing. It wasn't that much different from Carlisle's, but you could tell that they were higher in ranking. I finally made it up to their faces and squinted my eyes to look at the white hair of the one man, and then finally the eyes.

I gasped as I covered my shocked mouth with a hand. I was startled; the three men all had blood red eyes. I shifted my eyes to Carlisle's and noticed that they were still the same colour as they are today.

I was astonished, and wondered if they had asked the painter to create such mysterious eyes for them, but it seemed like the eyes were truly a part of the three men. With the haunted expressions, and the way they stood. As if they were something so powerful; as if they were something so unfathomable for me to understand.

I hadn't realized my heart had started pounding hard inside my chest, and I took a steady breath, placing a hand over the left side of my chest to calm myself down. I closed my eyes, and willed the painting to go away from my eyes.

Once I was sure I was calm, I opened my eyes to peer once more at the painting, and I noticed something in the corner of the painting, near the fancy, golden frame.

I walked closer to inspect it, and I saw that it read:

_Volturi. __  
_


	19. Aloofness

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**Wow, I cannot believe that I let this story get so far behind. But I do have many reasons.**

**Who knew my life could do a complete 360 in just 4 short months? I have experienced a traumatic event and the results have left me in so much pain. It was difficult for me to write, and I hope that you all forgive me. **

**I am continuing to write, and I vow to get back into Fanfiction. I hope that you guys will review and let me know you have not given up on me yet. **

**Are you guys looking forward to the movie? Tell me your thoughts in your review! I can say that I am quite excited myself.**

**I do not own **_**Twilight**_** it belongs to Stephanie Meyer.**

**Quick review of the past chapter:**

**Edward leaves Bella to go and find something to eat for her. She stumbles across Carlisle's office and begins to intrude, finding an elaborate painting hanging on the wall…**

**--**

My eyes widened at the foreign word that was written in white, cursive writing in the corner of the elaborate painting.

I stood frozen in the middle of the room as I peered up at the painting, the words burning into my mind over and over again. I hadn't the slightest idea what they could possibly mean, but I intended to find out.

I yanked out the closest book that was in arms length and started flipping through it to see what it was written about.

"_London the Early 1600's…" _

The first bolded title jumped out at me and I couldn't believe it. I looked back at the painting and then back down at the book. It seemed strange that the first book I should pull out would almost resemble the painting. I slowly turned around and walked over to Carlisle's desk and sat down in his chair.

I began reading it, learning about the society and the rankings of wealth. This chapter took a great deal of time for me to read through it, and I ended up skimming only certain parts of it near the end of the chapter. When I came to learning about the Church, I sat up straighter in the chair, and began reading the paragraphs, word for word.

"Although London can be quite a diverting place, there is always the matter of the Church, and what people think about it. Many citizens dwell upon the issue that the Church should set all the laws, while many disagree and think that the city should make consensus decisions.

When the Protestants came into power in London, it became the time of the Church. Roman Catholics and other Religions became head of the city and they controlled the many decisions that were made.

During the early 1600's down in the London streets, there were always mass rumours of a strong evil lurking beneath the shadows. The Church believed that there were witches, werewolves and vampires. Many hunts were led throughout the streets to try and eliminate these evils.

This time became chaos because innocent people were being killed by the beliefs of the Church. No one knew for sure if the actual creatures were real, and they were just managing to stealthily avoid being caught, or if the Church was going into a downfall because of it's failure."

I continued reading down the page, but there was nothing more about the Church. The rest of the chapter began to retell about the late1600's and when democracy finally took place.

I looked up at the painting hanging up on the wall directly in front of Carlisle's desk on the far side of the room. I squinted my eyes and peered intently at the other three men. Their eyes drew me into the painting and I was loosing myself within the time period of the painting. I imagined myself being there with Carlisle. Twirling about behind them, donned in the same robes, but more elaborately designed; with blood red eyes.

I gasped at myself, shaking my head and returning to the present day.

When was this painted?

I assumed that Carlisle was with these three men to try and recreate the specific time period. I looked down at the book that was placed in my hands, and I realized I was gripping the edges tightly. I loosened my grip and flipped back a couple of pages to look at the pictures.

There was a black and white drawing to go along with the Church theory. The drawing displayed a mob of people holding pitchforks and torches, chasing a shadow with red eyes down an alleyway.

I brought the book closer to my face to inspect the clothing. It was nothing like the robes in Carlisle's painting. I flipped back a couple of more pages to scout for anymore clothing. I finally found another black and white drawing of a wealthy couple with expressionless faces. Again, the clothing was not similar and I snapped the book shut in frustration. I hadn't learned anything from this book except for the ridiculous theory of the Church believing in evil and trying to capture witches, werewolves and vampires.

I suddenly shivered as I made my way back to the bookcase to choose another book to try and find out what time period this could have been painted in. There was the main bookcase that stood out right underneath the painting. I had grabbed this book from the left side of it, on a random shelf of another bookcase. I slid the book I was holding back into its place and ran my fingers across the spines of the other books, my head on an angle reading the titles. I randomly selected a thick, heavy book and immediately looked for the date inside the first couple of pages.

This book was also about the 1600's, but in other various cities around the world. I narrowed my eyes and slid the book back and selected another book from the same shelf. It too, was a book about the 1600's. I was starting to get excited as I moved onto the shelf above it see if my theory was correct or not.

The shelf above it was about the 1500's era, and then the shelf above it was related to the 1400's. I couldn't reach anything higher, but I had a good idea of what year was next. I returned back to the 1600 shelf and knelt down to look at the shelves underneath it. The next shelf was the 1800's and the one after it was 1900, and then the year 2000, with some books I recognized.

I stood up and frowned, looking over to the right side of the wall. I went to the shelf that was lined up with the 1600's and found that it too, was the same year. I checked all of the other shelves and found out that it was in chronological order, on both sides, and both sides of the wall lined up.

There was one year that was missing, and I finally realized that it was the bookcase underneath the painting. Carlisle had organized this whole wall by the years, and for some reason the 1700's was especially important.

As I stood in front of the painting, and the bookcase underneath it, it finally clicked. This painting was referring to the 1700's, the one century that was missing on Carlisle's shelves; but for what specific reason?

I was hesitant as I walked forward to the bookcase, my arms outstretched to grab a book. I felt so bad for going through Carlisle's study and the guilt was starting to eat away at me.

My heart began to pick up rhythm as it struck out a steady beat, and then increasing its tempo inside my chest. I gave a yell of frustration and ran out of the study, slamming the door behind me and sliding down the doorframe.

I closed my eyes briefly as the guilt started to subside, and the curiosity raged inside of me once again. As I moved to open the door and go back inside, the guilt washed up in tidal waves and I yanked myself up, running blindly down the stairs. I made it back into the main room, where daylight was creeping upon the Cullen mansion, as I saw Edward drive up the winding driveway in front of the house.

I was breathing heavily as I watched Edward through the window. He was walking up the to the porch, his steady and smooth steps calming me down. When Edward disappeared through the front door, and I heard the click, I spun around to watch him come walking into the room holding a couple of grocery bags.

Edward paused in his actions while looking at me. I must have looked like a deer caught in the headlights, for I wasn't blinking and I could feel that my face was frozen in place.

Edward turned his head to look behind him and then back at me, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion, "What's the matter?"

"Nothing." I replied a little to hastily, causing him to show disbelief in his facial features. I quickly blurted out the next thing that popped into my mind, "Something upstairs gave me a fright; just a shadow on the wall. That's all."

I swallowed nervously as I glanced to the bags in his hands, and rose my own to point at them in question. "What do you have in the bags?"

He raised them up in front of him as he began walking towards the kitchen while I started to trail after him.

Edward turned around and I had to watch myself from colliding into his chest with my head. It was my turn to ask what was wrong, and he replied saying that he would get me something to eat and that I could wait in the living room for him.

I narrowed my eyes into small slits before spinning around on my heel and walking back to the couch. I searched for any book or magazine that would provide me with entertainment. I finally found a book underneath the table on the lower shelf. It happened to be the same book that Esme was reading the day I had first came to the house.

It was a thick hardcover book that was about interior designing. I sighed at the seemingly boring topic, but nonetheless, began to read.

Not a couple of minutes later when Edward had brought me something to eat, I didn't even notice him walk into the room. I had gotten far to engrossed in the book. It was explaining the significance of shape, colour and the size of a room. The type of furniture depended on what colour the walls, floor, and ceiling were going to become. The smaller the room was, the fewer items you would want to have in it, and a darker colour would coordinate as well; making the seem more powerful.

I felt the couch shift with the weight of Edward as he sat down next to me, holding a plate and a glass. I glanced up briefly before realizing that he was trying to hand me the items. I snapped the book shut quickly, and set it back down in its spot underneath the table.

I carefully took the glass of orange juice first and set it on a coaster on the table before proceeding to take the plate. Edward had made me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I smiled at the thought of Edward in the kitchen making it.

I ate my food quietly while we both stared out the window in compatible silence, watching the clouds slowly start to get lighter, and lighter. After I finished, I set the pate on the table and reached for the juice. I downed it all and then set it back on the table.

"So what's on the agenda for today?" I shifted my body so I sat cross-legged on the couch, facing Edward.

Edward's bows furrowed in concentration of trying to think of what to do. There wasn't much really, the power was still out, and the rest of Edward's family were not home yet.

I interrupted Edward's process of thought by saying, "Do you have any board games, or a deck of cards?"

Edward smiled a crooked grin before replying, "Of course, I live with Emmett."

I laughed at that statement while Edward rose to go find the items. I picked up the plate and glass and returned them to the kitchen. I couldn't find any dish soap so I just set them in sink, and met Edward in the hallway.

We walked back to the living room, which had become our living place at the moment. In Edward's arms were a bunch of games, with a deck of cards on the top of the pile. I sat down on the ground leaning up against couch, the same time Edward set the stack on the ground beside and then sat down on the couch. I could feel his right leg next to my head. I was positive that if I turned to look at him, I would smack my nose against his knee.

I began searching for a game that I at least had a chance of winning against Edward. I knew that he was intelligent, and it would take all of my cunning skills to be close to winning, or actually win the game.

There was, Twister, Snakes and Ladders, Battleship, Boggle, Scattergories, and a deck of cards. I smiled when I saw Scattergories because it was my best board game. Mom and I used to play it all the time, and she wasn't too good at winning.

I pushed the rest to the side and began taking the items out of the box on the table. I handed Edward a pencil, a card, the lists, and a board to write on.

The object of the game was to roll and die that held all 26 letters of the Alphabet, and whatever letter came up was the one that was used. For the first round, there was a list of things that you had to come up with, and all of them had to start with that letter. For example, if the letter was A, and on the list were, Fruit, Clothing, Place, Drink, Brand Name, Company, President, Car, University/College, and Internet Site. For fruit I would put Apple, and so on…

The object of the game was to make sure that you did not have a repeat of the same thing. So if Edward and I both put Apple, neither one of us would receive a point. For round two, the list would change, and we would roll another letter.

Edward and I started the game, and we played all twenty rounds. I enjoyed playing it because I had finally met my match, and we ended up both winning ten rounds each. We argued some of the selections we made, sometimes letting the other person count the point, even if it was completely ridiculous.

It was 5:00, by the time we just finished round twenty, and I had won it, bringing us to the tie. When I was cheering and clapping, when the rest of Edward's family came into the house.

Edward and I both stopped laughing and rose to go meet them. I hung back in the doorway while Edward briefly got a report of the damage the storm had done. There were only a couple of people hurt down at the hospital, and a lot of houses were damaged, mine included.

I had gasped when I heard the news, and remembered walking down the hallway and the creaking roof, making a sarcastic comment to my dad on the note I left him saying that the house was going to fall apart.

Apparently the roof was destroyed and there was a little bit of flooding because of the broken roof: right above my room. I groaned when I received this news and Carlisle had told me that Charlie was staying at down with Billy for the night, and I was to stay here. Tomorrow, the men of the Cullen Family and I were going to go down to the house, and start removing items from my now destroyed room. Charlie was going to meet us there around noon.

Surprisingly I wasn't all that upset about the room I had stayed in all my childhood every summer. The only thing that I was worried about was replacing the items, but making sure I had the money to do so.

For the rest of the night Edward, Alice, Emmett and I all played the games that were now strewn about the living room. I was enjoying myself immensely, and I was surprised that I was having so much fun.

What would it be like if I hung out here more often? Edward and I had grown a little bit closer, and he wasn't all that quiet anymore. Emmett and him would always argue about the littlest things, making Alice and I laugh harder. Sometimes even Alice would join the arguments. Her feisty comments in her small body always seemed to make the situation so much more comical.

By 10:00 I had decided to retire for the night because my eyelids were growing heavy. I was expecting a long day tomorrow down at the house. I asked where I would be sleeping that night, and Alice had quickly responded with, "In Edward's room again."

I blushed before saying that Edward would need to sleep in his own room, but he insisted it would be fine.

Edward and I walked silently up the stairs and into his room. I went into the bathroom to change into a t-shirt and a pair of shorts that Alice had given me. I pulled the navy blue polo shirt over my head and realized that it was Edward's. I could smell his fragrance all over the t-shirt and I inhaled deeply, feeling completely moronic afterwards when I tried to wash away my blush with soap and water.

I became a scowling, blushing idiot and quickly finished up the rest of my bathroom routine. Alice had an extra toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste that I was able to have. I threw my hair up into a loose ponytail and walked out the door back into the room.

Edward had opened out the same thing that I had slept on the previous night and I was immediately looking forward to the soft mattress once again.

Once Edward had finished up setting the mattress with the duvet, he turned towards me and started walking forwards. My breathing hitched, and caught in my throat. He bent down and laid the softest brush of a kiss against my left cheek.

Edward stood up straight and nodded his head sharply, saying, "Night Bella, I'll see you in the morning."

And he walked out.


End file.
